A Time For Change
by laughing on the inside
Summary: Winry, the Elrics, Ling and Mei have decided to go East after the events of The Promised Day. Ling convinces the group to enrol in his old high school, Ouran High, but why does everyone seem to hate Winry the instant she arrives?
1. A Rough Start

****A/N: I'm aliiiveee. yes i haven't updated my previous story in a while...just caught up in exams and finishing high school...

Summary: Winry, the Elrics, Ling and Mei have decided to go East after the Promised Day fiasco. Ling convinces them to enroll in his old high school, Ouran High, but why does everyone seem to hate Winry the instant she arrives?

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><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 1:_ _A __Rough Start_

Winry stood before the gates of Ouran High School. It was large and imposing; nearly as impressive as the military headquarters back in Central.

Central. She missed Amestris, or Germany, as they called it here. She thought about how it had even come to this; going to school for the first time in nearly seven years. After the "Promised Day" fiasco, when Ed lost his alchemy, he had decided to go West, but changed his mind at the last minute and decided that he would accompany Al, Mei and Ling East instead. Ling had convinced them that the best way to learn would be to go to school with him. Al agreed instantly, realising that it was a good idea. Ed hated it though and, after much of Al's begging, he decided it wouldn't hurt to try it out for a year.

They invited Winry along because she, too, had always wanted to have a look outside of Germany. Ed and Al said that they thought that, since there was no danger, having Winry come would be a lot of fun,

The first day of school was actually today, but Ed had to tie up a few military matters, as did Ling. They would be arriving soon, though, with Al and Mei to accompany them. Therefore, Winry would be the first to go to school.

She took a deep breath and entered the school. What hit her first were the waves of hostility. She was amazed that, from the moment she set foot on campus, everyone seemed to know who she was; and they hated her for it.

She made her way to her classroom; angry eyes following her every move, glaring down their noses at her. As the day wore on, she realised that it was mostly girls who were glaring at her, but she couldn't put her finger on why. As the bell rang for lunch, she made her way to the cafeteria, but again she was shunned. Cold looks and glares drove her away from any of the tables, so she decided she would try for an empty classroom.

She ascended the stairs and walked down hallways, but most of the classrooms were in use. She, therefore, decided to try her luck in the music wing of the school. She opened a door at random and was surprised to see a bespectacled dark haired boy typing on his computer and making arrangements with a tall blonde.

They both looked up and seemed to recognise her instantly. The blonde looked like he was just barely containing his rage and the bespectacled boy glared at her icily.

"You!" The blonde said accusingly, "Don't ever come here again!" he shouted. Winry considered shutting the door and slinking away, but she was sick of the unwarranted hatred she was receiving.

"Hey! You can't order me around! What makes you so special?" she shouted back.

"You have some nerve, Miss Rockbell, coming here," the black haired teen said in an even, yet chilling voice, "We will forgive you because we know it's your first day, but never come back here again,"

"I don't see why I can't, but I can see why I wouldn't want to. This whole damn school is full of prats!" Winry growled.

"If you dislike our school so much, then perhaps you should leave," the blonde shouted.

"I'm going to make sure I stay, just because it seems to piss you off!" Winry yelled back and turned on her heal, slamming the door behind her. As she whirled around she noticed a small elementary school boy staring at her. Winry, being pissed off as she was, ignored him and stomped back to her classroom.

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><p>Tamaki tried to calm himself down. That was probably the first time he'd ever been rude to a girl. He would have been disgusted with himself, but…that girl. It was all her fault! Everything was her fault! Kyoya and Tamaki looked up at the door, which opened again to reveal Hunny and Mori.<p>

"Uh…what just happened?" Hunny asked, "We heard lots of shouting. Is everything okay, Tama chan?"

"That was Winry Rockbell," Kyoya said evenly.

Hunny paused, trying to remember why that name rang a bell. It dawned on him, "The girl who stole Haruhi's scholarship?"

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><p>Winry arrived back at her apartment complex, thoroughly worn out. She had set up the apartment yesterday. Ed and Al had an apartment next door, on the right, which Ed had given her a key for. He had painted the key bright red, saying that in a new place a little courage wouldn't be unwelcomed. She fumbled around looking for the set of keys, but couldn't find them. She dug around her pocket, checked her bag, but they weren't there. She had lost them. It was the last straw. Winry started tearing up. She hated this! She missed her granny, she missed Den, she missed her friends back in Rush Valley. She missed Ed and Al and Ling and Mei. She banged her fist against the door, letting out her frustration.<p>

"Hello?" the door next to her opened and she found herself facing a girl of about the same age, "Whoa! Are you okay?" the girl asked her, seeing Winry close to tears.

"No! I absolutely hate Xing!" She wailed. The girl brought Winry into her apartment and made her a cup of tea. The girl asked her what was wrong and Winry began to relate her story,

"Today was my first day of school in Xing and everyone hated me and I don't even know why! I miss my home town and my friends,"

"Are you German, by any chance?" The girl asked.

"Yeah; is my accent that terrible?" Winry smiled through her tears.

"A bit," the girl joked. Winry started laughing. The girl joined her and Winry began to feel better. They started chatting for a while about nothing in particular, but as the sun began to set, they had gotten onto the topic of food and cooking. They swapped recipes and Winry promised to show her how to bake an excellent apple pie.

"It's the best in the world," Winry said, remembering Hughes and Gracia, "Come over to my apartment tomorrow and I'll show you," Winry got up to leave and the girl escorted her out, they were surprised at how much time had passed; it was nearly night.

"Sure, I'll come over after school,"

"Okay, what school do you go to?"

"Oh, just the local high school," The girl replied.

Winry suddenly jumped, having reached her front door, "Oh, I just remembered, I lost my key!" Winry sighed in frustration.

The girl pulled out a familiar, pocket sized screwdriver keychain with two keys dangling from it, "I saw this on the ground up the road, the red key really stood out,"

Winry smiled softly, "It's hard to miss," She thanked the girl profusely and turned the key in the knob, as she was about to disappear inside she turned and to the girl.

"I'm Winry, what's your name, by the way?"

"Haruhi,"

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><p>End of Chapter 1<p>

Well, i hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter we'll see more of the host club and how they're handling Haruhi's departure.

Critique is always welcome! I'll see you next time :D

:D Laughing On The Inside :D


	2. Making Plans

A/N: What up, mah peeps? well here's the second chapter :D it's a bit more background stuff just to set the scene a bit more.

AN EXPLANATION: just in case anyone else was a bit confused, i'll explain the world: Germany in my story is Amestris, Winry calls it Amestris because that's how she says Germany in German. For example, we say Spanish, but the Spanish say Espanol. That sort of thing. Xing is Japan, though i'm pretty sure it's meant to reflect China. Xing is what Winry says when she means Japan.

On to the story :D

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><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 2: Making Plans__  
><em>

An alarm clock buzzed and whirled to life next to Winry's head. It was one of her repair jobs that had never quite worked out; the stupid thing often woke her up ten minutes too early, or it's alarm buzzed too softly for her to wake. She sighed and dragged herself out of bed. She smiled, though; she was in a much better mood than the night before. She stretched and was determined to make her second day at Ouran a good day.

She arrived in the yellow dress that matched her blonde hair and finally realised Ed's hatred for all uniforms. She hadn't worn it the day before because it had yet to arrive at the time, but now she was wishing it never did. She fidgeted with the bow, the cuffs and the collar, trying to make it more comfortable or tear a hole trying. She walked in and sat at her desk. She found that she was, again, glared at by all the girls in her class. She sighed and decided to try to find out what was making her so unpopular.

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><p>"THE HOST CLUB EMERGENCY MEETING WILL NOW COME TO ORDER!" Tamaki yelled.<p>

Hunny sat at a table eating a pile of sweets, Mori was sitting next to him looking as he usually does, Kyoya sat at another table typing at his laptop, the Hitachiin brothers were reading magazines.

"Oi, guys!" Tamaki yelled again, frustrated at the lack of response.

"What?" the Hitachiins asked in stereo.

"What are we going to do about Haruhi?" Tamaki whined.

"What can we do?" Hunny asked, "I miss Haru chan too, but you already asked your dad, didn't you?"

Tamaki pondered asking again, but didn't think the results would be very favourable. He had asked his father, being chairman and all, whether Haruhi could get another Full Scholarship. His father had been adamant that unless Haruhi surpassed the new student, she couldn't have the scholarship; Yuzuru Suoh could not show favouritism.

"I did. He said Haruhi would have to do better than the new student"

"From my research, it shows that Haruhi didn't lose out by much; she was only about three points behind the new student"

Tamaki nodded, "And wasn't she sick at the time?"

"I think she had the flu," Kyoya replied.

"So what do you suggest?"

"We could help tutor Haruhi or we could _entice_ the new student to leave," the word 'entice' from Kyoya had quite a lot of meanings. Kyoya himself missed Haruhi a bit, he told himself he wasn't moved either way, but he had to admit that she had grown on him.

"Yeah! Let's ruin the newbie's life!" Hikaru and Kaoru grinned mischievously and high fived; it sounded like fun.

"Who's the new toy?" Hikaru asked.

"Her name is Winry Rockbell," Tamaki said. Tamaki thought for a moment, then clicked his fingers "OKAY!" the Hitachiins snapped to attention, "Hikaru, Kaoru, go make this girl's life a misery! Kyouya find the smartest tutors in Japan!"

"What should I do Tama chan?" Hunny asked, hope glimmering in his eyes.

"Hunny senpai…you can eat the cakes…"

While Hunny grumbled to his bunny in a corner, Tamaki pondered whether this was the right thing to do. Normally, he wouldn't have been nearly this ruthless, but this was for Haruhi! Anything for his precious daughter!

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><p>Hikaru and Kaoru roamed the halls of Ouran for their target.<p>

"Excuse me, lovely ladies, I'm looking for a 'Winry Rockbell',"

"No, Hikaru, are you leaving me?" Kaoru asked dramatically, clutching his brother's sleeve and tearing up.

"Never, Kaoru; nothing could drag you from my side," They continued their little drama production, ever the attention seeking devils they were.

The girls squealed and cooed, though this did nothing to help Winry's reputation amongst the girls.

"First she steals Haruhi, now she's trying to break up the Hitachiin brothers! That bitch has got to go," the girls agreed. One of them pointed out Winry, who was sitting on a bench, by herself, reading a book.

Hikaru and Kaoru grinned. They filled a bucket of water and made their way to the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Hikaru took a quick glance to make sure no one else was around, then threw the contents over the girl and they high fived. They watched the girl moan and shake the water out of her hair. Then they returned to the music room to report their success.

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><p>Winry arrived home damp. She had dried most of her clothing out in the girl's wash room, but she still smelt like stagnant pond water. She threw off her uniform and took a quick shower. By the time she was finished, Haruhi had returned from school and they began preparations for the apple pie.<p>

"Wow, that's a lot of flour!" Haruhi commented when she opened Winry's pantry.

"Yeah, I'm planning to do a lot of cooking over the next few days,"

"Why?" Haruhi asked, preparing the dough for the pie.

"My friends, Ed, Al, Ling and Mei are coming from Germany. They'll be arriving a week from now,"

"Why do Ling, Mei and Germany sound so familiar?"

Winry smiled, "They're full names are Ling Yao and Mei Chang"

Haruhi gasped, "The prince and princess! They went to Germany to find some sort of medicine to cure the emperor! No one's ever seen any of the princes or princesses,"

"Yeah, Ed and Al sort of ran into them and they became good friends,"

"So how does Xing work, you know? The culture and stuff," Winry asked.

"Well, first of all we call Xing, Japan. Xing is the German exonym, isn't it?"

Winry nodded. She had grown to like Haruhi; she was very patient and intelligent. She didn't care about appearances and she was quite honest, sometimes brutally so. Haruhi filled her in on basic life in Japan, cultural differences and some of her favourite sites. By the time they were finished talking and baking, the afternoon had turned into evening.

"I'll see you soon," Haruhi said, taking her leave with an apple pie in hand.

"Sure, I'll come hang out tomorrow,"

Haruhi nodded and smiled.

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><p>Winry spent the rest of the week pretty pissed off. She had come to hate nearly everyone in Ouran, especially the "Host Club". Every single girl in Ouran sneered and looked down their prissy, pompous noses at her.<p>

"That's the commoner,"

"She's quite ugly isn't she?"

"Very plain, yes,"

Winry walked to class, noticing a bunch of aristocratic girls standing in her way. The foremost one a girl she recognised as being the one who most commonly picked on her; Renge Houshakuji.

"You filthy commoner! Why do you even come to this school! Give the scholarship back to Haruhi kun!"

"If this 'Haruhi' wants it back, he'll have to prove he's smarter than I am!" Winry shot back. _Haruhi is seems to be quite a common name. And it's apparently unisex, but I'm beginning to see that most Xingese names are._ Winry mused to herself as Renge growled.

"You stupid bitch!" she yelled.

"If I'm stupid, I'd hate to see how dumb Haruhi is," Winry grinned, leaving Renge spluttering.

Winry had enough self confidence to not let these petty insults get to her. The physical abuse was starting to grate on her nerves, though. Every day she was tripped or pushed or shoved; she avoided going down busy staircases, and had at least three buckets of unknown slime and various ooze chucked on her daily. She had people constantly vandalising her desk, but, being Ouran High School for the Elite and Money Wasting, the desk was meticulously scrubbed clean each night by the hundreds of janitors the school hired, providing a clean slate for more graffiti the next day.

Her locker, too, didn't survive unscathed. There were multiple pseudo death threats and nasty notes shoved into her locker. She had decided to stop keeping anything of importance in there, after the second time someone flooded it with orange juice.

She had found out that all of this bullying stemmed from the "Host Club", a bunch of brats who had nothing better to do than satisfy their libido and ruin Winry's life. She came close to stomping over to their stupid base and bashing their heads in with her wrench a few times, but had refrained, deciding just to ride it out; Ed, Al and Ling would be here in a couple of days and then she could ignore the idiots around her and focus on having a great year with her best friends.

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><p>End of Chapter 2<p>

So, i hope you guys are enjoying this, tell me if you think that there's something wrong or if you just want to send some happiness to me :D

Guess who's arriving in Xing next chapter? oooooh i'm so excited, so get pumped, people!

if there's anything you'd like to suggest for the next chapter, interactions you'd like to see or anything, drop me a line and i'll take it into consideration!

Til next time,

:D Laughing On The Inside :D


	3. Welcome to Xing!

A/N: Sup everybody? I can't really tell if it's been a while because my life has been quite hectic as i'm taking my first steps in higher education (ie uni)! That, coupled with the fact that i just got a new laptop and have been trying to get it to work for the better part of two weeks, is my excuse for not updating frequently. Apologies, my friends! and i'm going to be crazy busy for the next few weeks, so i'll try and churn out a new chapter, but it will be tight!

thank you to everyone for the reviews! they made me sooooo happy :D

i am thinking about some of the suggestions and i shall see what i can do about them, but i do have a general idea of where my story is going, so i may not be able to include a lot of things, apologies again!

okay, here we go!

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><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 3: Welcome to Xing!  
><em>

"Winry chan, are you home?" Haruhi called. It was a Saturday afternoon and Haruhi had knocked on Winry's door, not having much else to do.

"Yep, come on in!" Winry said. Haruhi was surprised to see her in a pair of overalls and covered in oil. Haruhi often came home later than Winry, finding her dressed in normal attire, a miniskirt or shorts and a tshirt or blouse. However this came as a surprise. Haruhi was intrigued.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm working on automail," Winry said.

"What's automail?"

"Oh, it's a type of prosthetic limb. It's big in Germany because there were a lot of soldiers who lost limbs in the war a while ago. I guess the rest of the world isn't too into it,"

"I don't see why not, it looks fascinating," Haruhi said, looking at the expertly crafted fingers and testing their joints.

"Oh, it's amazing! Automail is wonderful! It's the best! I could spend hours on it! The whole world should embrace it; it's so useful!" Winry squealed enthusiastically.

"Then why doesn't it?"

A sad smile passed over Winry's face, "The rehab takes about two years. Even then, full mobility only comes after a three more years after that. The whole process is extremely painful; each nerve has to be connected to an electronic wire in order for the limb to function properly,"

"Wow," Haruhi was surprised, "Could you show me some of it, anyway?"

"Sure," Winry explained the mechanisms of how automail functioned and worked.

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><p>Haruhi said goodnight to Winry and went home. She locked the door behind her and smiled. She began to prepare dinner for her father and reflected on the year so far. She had been very sad to learn that she hadn't obtained the special scholarship. She was offered a 75% placement, so she'd only have to pay 25% of the fees, but it was still too much for her. Although it's true that she had been quite sick in the weeks leading up to the test (she'd had a serious bout of influenza) she still blamed herself for becoming too complacent; she didn't deserve the scholarship. While she had enjoyed her time with the Host Club, it was obviously impacting negatively on her studies. But she would try harder this semester and take the test again. She missed the Host Club, but she wasn't overly depressed; instead, she was hopeful.<p>

She didn't mind her life at the moment, though. She really enjoyed being friends with Winry; she was kind and smart and she was always so full of energy. Haruhi was angry that there were people who were bullying Winry, though Winry didn't like to talk about it. Winry tried to avoid the topic of school as much as possible; Haruhi wasn't even sure which school she went too. Winry said she could deal, but Haruhi was still concerned. She decided, instead, to focus on cheering her up and being a good friend when she came home.

She was excited to meet Winry's friends, who were coming to Japan tomorrow night. She and Winry had prepared a lot of food and had done a lot of cooking to prepare for their arrival. She was also very interested to meet the prince and princess. She had heard a lot of rumours about them, like how the prince was a master swordsman and the princess practiced alkahestry; an almost dead art because of its complexities and dangers, but no one in Japan knew what they looked like.

The ringing of the phone dragged her out of her thoughts.

"Hello, Fujioka residence," Haruhi began.

"HARUHIIIIII!" Tamaki's voice screeched through the receiver.

"Hello Tamaki senpai," Haruhi replied calmly; this wasn't the first time Tamaki called to whine about the injustice of her losing the scholarship.

"Great news! Kyoya has found you the best tutors in Japan!"

Haruhi grew frustrated, but kept her temper in check, "Tamaki senpai, I have told you before, I do not want the best tutors in Japan. I can do this on my own. I can't afford them anyway,"

"Kyoya doesn't mind paying; most of them work for the Ootori company anyway"

"I don't want them, senpai. I can do it myself. Trust me,"

"But Haruuuuhhhiiiiii" Tamaki whined.

"Good bye, senpai," Haruhi sighed as she hung up.

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><p>Winry was excitedly buzzing around Ed and Al's apartment. She hung up streamers and balloons and made their apartment look quite festive. Every few seconds she would find something to do, something to dust, something to hang up. Haruhi watched her with fascination; Winry just wouldn't sit still, not even for a second.<p>

Haruhi looked around and found only two shipping boxes worth of things in the otherwise empty apartment, and even those boxes were small. She tried to lift them to move them into the rooms and out of the way, but she found they were extremely heavy.

"Oh, don't bother trying to move them. They're probably filled with notes and books. Seriously it was a pain getting them up here,"

"There aren't many boxes here, are there?"

"Yeah, they don't have anything, really," Winry said.

"Why?"

Winry nodded, "When they first started journeying around Amestr- I mean Germany, they burnt their house to the ground,"

Haruhi was shocked, "Why?" she asked, finally regaining her tongue.

" 'Because some memories aren't meant to leave traces'," Winry recited Al's words.

Haruhi was moved and saddened. She reflected on the meaningful words, however, she was shaken out of her brooding by a rather loud voice.

"For the last time, Al, I swear it wasn't my fault!"

"Then whose was it, brother?"

"Ling's!"

"What do you mean my fault?"

"You were meant to be minding the stuff!"

"You were the one who made me look for your passport!"

"See, big brother, your fault! If you hadn't lost your passport, Ling wouldn't have left the bags and the bags wouldn't have been stolen!"

"We got them back, didn't we?"

"Only because Xiao Mei was sleeping in one of them and bit the thief!"

"Stupid cat, only good for biting people," a voice muttered.

Winry laughed and opened the door for them.

"Welcome to Xing!" Winry shouted, hugging them.

"Hey, Winry!" They said happily. Haruhi watched on, smiling at the scene.

Winry brought them inside and introduced them to Haruhi, who bowed and said it was a pleasure to meet them.

"Nice to meet you too, Fujioka san," Al said politely.

"Oh, you can just call me Haruhi,"

"Oops, I totally forgot about the honorific system," Winry laughed.

Ed grinned, "Too busy being an automail freak?"

Winry smiled, "So what's happened back in Germany? Without your alchemy, you can't be a state alchemist anymore, can you?" Winry asked sadly. It had been plaguing her mind since she came.

"Nup, I'm a colonel now!"

Winry spluttered, "What? How did that happen?"

"Double promotion for my efforts in the 'Promised Day' fiasco. Mustang got one too, though, so he's still my superior, damn him,"

"Who's fuhrer?"

"Grumman,"

Haruhi stood, not understanding a word, since they spoke in German, but she listened politely anyway. She liked Winry's friends. She could already see that they were a bit like the Host Club without the…eccentric tendencies. She was taken aback at how handsome the two blondes were; she hadn't seen many natural blondes in her life (she was pretty sure Tamaki dyed his hair, since he was only half French and it was biologically impossible for him to be naturally blonde). The prince and princess weren't what she expected either. She used to have the preconceived notion that princes and princesses were refined and dignified. By the end of the night, she had revised her opinion.

"Oh, speak in Xingese, you guys, Haruhi can't understand," Winry said.

The rest of the party was spent watching Ling and Ed fight for food and talking in general.

"Wow, this is our prince and princess?" Haruhi whispered to Winry. She smiled as Ling lunged for the last piece of apple pie, Ed beat him to it and attempted to shove it in his mouth. Ling jumped after him and chased him around the room, Ed tripped over Xiao Mei, pie flying out of his hand. The baby panda promptly went bat shit crazy on him and tried to tear off his head. Mei leapt up and caught the piece of pie before it hit the ground and offered it to Al, who accepted it graciously and ate it, laughing at Ed and Ling's expressions.

"They are. You should be proud," Winry laughed.

"Hey, so Haruhi, right?"

"Yes Elric san?"

"Call me Ed. What's Xing like?"

"It's really nice, you'll grow to like it, I'm sure. You're Japanese is really good, by the way, how long have you been learning,"

Ed thought for a moment, "Well we only decided to come to Japan last month, so I guess…two or three weeks,"

"Really? You became this fluent in a month? Wow, Ed, you must be really smart," Haruhi said genuinely impressed.

"Don't get him started," Winry warned.

Haruhi smiled, "So why did you guys choose Japan?"

"Al and I came to learn more about alkahestry and healing," Ed said, "But for now we're stuck going to school with the idiot prince," He said pointing at Ling who was stuffing his mouth with too much food.

"What's alkahestry?" Haruhi asked

"It's a secret art that only the royal family are allowed to learn and practice," Ling said.

"If it's a secret, how are Ed and Al going to learn it?" Haruhi asked.

"Well, if Al marries Mei, they'll be part of the family," Winry joked, then laughed at Al's red face and Mei's starry eyed expression.

Ling laughed at Al, too, then whispered conspiratorially to Haruhi, "The government won't find out if we don't tell," he said with a grin.

Haruhi smiled, "You'd make a good emperor,"

Eventually, Haruhi left, saying she had to get up early for school. Winry realised the time and said she did too, and so did the rest of them, even Mei who would be attending the elementary school.

"Hey, Ling, do the students at school know you're the prince?"

"Nope. At school I go by Ling Xiao and Mei goes by Mei Xiao. They're pretty common names. I haven't been to Ouran in…three years. Wow, time sure does fly," Ling said.

"Yeah, well, I haven't been to school in about nine years," Ed countered.

"That explains a lot," Ling said, getting into another verbal spat with Ed.

Eventually, Haruhi bade them all goodnight and retired back to her own apartment, while the others began to wind down.

"So what's school like, Win?" Ed asked while they were all cleaning up. Mei was collecting rubbish, Ling and Al were taking down the decorations, Winry was washing the dishes and Ed was drying.

"Uh..." Winry frowned slightly, "It's definitely something to get used to," she said noncommittally.

"After all that 'Promised Day' crap, I'd say it's definitely a time for change," Ed grinned and flung a huge scoop of soap suds at Winry.

"ED!" she yelled and splashed him back with the tap.

From the lounge room, Ling, Al and Mei heard the commotion and shook their heads amongst each other with broad smiles. Some people just never grow up.

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><p>End of Chapter 3<p>

If you liked it, drop me a line! if you hated it...i don't think i want to know...but i'll take constructive critism!

Next time, Ed and the others will be attending their first day of High School! GET EXCITED PEOPLE!

:D Laughing On The Inside :D


	4. Getting Off on the Wrong Foot

A/N: wow...it's been a while. I don't want to make excuses for myself, but, yeah...this year's been a big change for me because i've started university (I'll let you guys guess what kind of bachelor's degree i'm undertaking). I'll keep this short and sweet cuz i know you guys want to get to the chapter!

PS, thanks for all the reviews and the support 3 you guys are my strength

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 4: Getting Off on the Wrong Foot_

The next day, the five of them got ready for school. Mei had slept over at Winry's place and Ling had slept over with Ed and Al. Ed was extremely pissed at being forced to wear the stuffy uniform.

"What the f***?!" Ed shouted as they made their way to school, "I was in the bloody military for four years and I didn't even wear the uniform! The freaking military! Can alkahestry turn this crap into normal clothes?"

"Didn't they say they'd take away your scholarship if you didn't?" Ling grinned, remembering the day that Ed had found out about the uniforms. He'd called up the school and told them that there was no way in hell he'd wear that poor excuse for a monkey suit.

"Stupid school! I don't even need the bloody scholarship anymore!"

"Really?" Winry asked. She didn't really need the scholarship either; she'd made enough money in Rush Valley so that she could pay the tuition fees, but if she lost the scholarship, that would mean that she wouldn't be able to buy anymore parts or special alloys. This would mean she wouldn't be able to experiment and make new, lighter or more robust appendages. This, in turn, would mean she wouldn't be able to keep selling her automail as cheaply as she did, which would be disappointing for her customers who really needed Winry's services.

"Yeah, the salary I get for being a Colonel is crazy and I've got all that money saved up from being a state alchemist,"

"Then why'd you apply for the scholarship?" Mei asked.

"Just in case they kicked me out of the military for losing my alchemy. If they had stripped me of my rank and title, Ouran's fees for myself and Al would have really left a dent in my savings,"

"Sorry, big brother," Al said.

"What for? You got a scholarship and so did I, so it's fine,"

They arrived at the school gates and went their separate ways; Mei to the elementary school, Ling and Ed to the second year's classes, Al to the middle school section and Winry to the first year's classes. Though Ed was the same age as Winry, the Full Scholarship was only available to one student per year, so Ed had decided to go a year higher.

"See you at break, Win," Ed waved. She smiled to him and nodded.

"Don't kill anyone your first day, okay?"

* * *

><p>"Hi. I'm Ed-Uhh Elric Edward. Call me Ed," Ed said. The teacher prompted him to go on.<p>

"I'm from Germany," With that Ed had nothing more to say. The girls were whispering and giggling, Ed, being dense as he was, had no idea what that meant so he stood there until the teacher picked a girl with her hand raised.

"Ummm Ed san, do you have a girlfriend?"

"None of your damn business," Ed snapped, crossing his arms. Believe it or not, the girls at Ouran found his short temper to be highly attractive, different from the usual suave and well bred young men they normally associated with. They giggled more and Ed found the high pitched squeals very annoying. He hoped Ling was doing better.

Ed was instructed to take a seat. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Ed looked to his left to find a blonde guy with a creepily happy smile on his face.

"Ed san, would you like to join the Host Club?"

* * *

><p>During recess, Ed made a break for it, running from Tamaki who was intent on making him join his stupid host club. After he heard what the club's activities were, Ed called them sick and said he had better things to do. Tamaki, however was insistent, saying that they needed a "brash and dangerous" type, which made a cold shiver run down Ed's spine.<p>

Ed found Winry standing in the hallway, with a group of girls. He stopped, thinking that they were her friends, so he didn't want to interrupt, when he heard their conversation;

"Hey, bitch, watch where you're going!"

"Please, you walked into me!" Winry scowled.

"You filthy commoner!" the girl yelled and raised her hand to slap Winry.

Ed shot out and caught her hand. The girl looked up at Ed.

He glared at her, "Don't you ever touch her," Ed growled.

"But she's just a filthy, destitute, commoner," the girl pouted. A crowd had begun to gather.

Ed dropped her hand, "What the hell makes you think that?" He asked, still glaring at her.

"She's on a scholarship!" The girl shouted.

"Yeah, she stole Haruhi kun's scholarship!" the girl behind cried, backing her up.

Ed rolled his eyes, "So what? I'm on a scholarship but I have enough money to…" he was about to rant at her, but Winry pulled him away,

"Come on, Ed, it's fine," Winry said.

"No it's not! She was about to slap you!"

"Ed just let it go!" Winry shouted. Ed looked unhappy, but nodded.

He turned to leave. As he parted he shouted turned back to the crowd, "If anyone dares to hit Winry, again I'll punch you in the face!"

He glared at each of the onlookers.

Winry dragged him away laughing, "Ed would you really hit a girl?"

Ed shrugged, "Hey, I'm not sexist,"

They found Ling and Al in the courtyard. Ed related what happened to them and both were outraged.

"Why are they doing it?" Al asked.

"Because I stole some guy's scholarship. They were really popular or something,"

"Just because that idiot wasn't as smart as you, doesn't mean you should be blamed," Ling chipped in.

Winry shrugged, "There's this club that's really popular at school called the Host Club. He was apparently part of it and now they're trying to get me to leave the school so that this person can get it back,"

"Host Club?" Ed asked. There was a pause. Then he exploded; "THOSE BLOODY SHIT-HEADS!" Ed yelled, "They were trying to recruit me this morning! I'm going to go rip their…" Al grabbed Ed and, with Ling's help, pinned him down.

Ling grinned, "I've got a better idea. Join their club and take it down from the inside,"

* * *

><p>That day was the first time Winry had eaten at the cafeteria. She sat with Ed and Ling who bought three full lunches each. Al joined them as soon as his classes finished. He ate lightly, his stomach still not used to anything too rich. He also took a few supplement pills.<p>

As Ed and Ling were gorging themselves they noticed the cafeteria go quiet. Ed looked up to see Tamaki.

"What?" Ed asked with his mouth full of food.

"Ew, Ed, manners!" Winry chided. Tamaki looked surprised to see that Winry had made friends with the new guy so soon.

"Ed, come with us! Join the Host Club and you won't have to associate with this…" Tamaki motioned to Winry, unable to find a suitable insult.

"Sorry, Ling, but screw your plan! This guy's really bugging me," Ed said, stood up and punched Tamaki in the stomach, he instantly fell, clutching his abdomen.

"Hey, don't hurt Tama chan!" Hunny jumped to Tamaki's defence.

"He started it! He came up to our table, insulted my friend to her face and expects me to join his manwhore club?! I think he had that coming!"

Hunny glared at him. Ed glared back.

The cafeteria had gone silent.

Tamaki looked up from his crumpled position and put a hand on Hunny's shoulder, motioning for him to calm down. "Edward, Edward, don't be short-tempered; I…"

"DID YOU CALL ME SHORT?!"

* * *

><p>"How did it come to this?" Al asked himself.<p>

"Ed being the idiotic, immature, little…"

"I can hear you, Winry!" Ed shouted. He stood on a grassy hill opposite Hunny.

Winry chucked her wrench and hit him square in the head, "You deserved that!" she yelled as he nursed his forming lump. Al and Winry watched Ed stretch, while Ling tried to recall why the name "Hunny" and the word "fighting" seemed so familiar.

There was a huge crowd of Ouran students gathered on the grassy, windswept plain to watch Ed and Hunny battle it out. After Ed had flown off the handle at Tamaki's horribly unfortunate comment, Hunny had challenged him to a fight; if Hunny won, Ed would have to 'leave Tama chan alone!'. Tamaki added that Ed would also have to join the Host Club. Ed agreed; if he won, they would stop picking on Winry and leave them all the hell alone.

Takashi Morinozuka stood next to Hunny, feeling sorry for the new student.

"You'll go easy on him, right?" he whispered to Hunny.

"Of course, Taka chan, I won't go overboard. Ed chan, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?" Hunny asked

Ed snorted, "Why would I? You don't look that tough,"

One of Ed's fangirls, and there were a lot of them, considering that this was Ed's first day, shouted, "Ed kun, he's a Haninozuka!"

Ed raised an eyebrow, "What the hell does that mean?"

Ling finally realised why the name was so familiar. He ran up to Ed, "That's the most prominent family of martial artists in Japan,"

"What about your family?" Ed countered.

"Excluding our family, of course" Ling agreed, "I want to fight him!"

"What the hell, Ling? Go fight someone else, he challenged me!"

"But I'm a better martial artist!" Ling complained, wanting to try his hand against a member of the famous Haninozuka family.

"Aren't you a sword freak? Go find a samurai or something!"

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN A MARTIAL ARTIST!" Ling yelled, trying to get it through Ed's thick skull.

"I totally am! I'm just more of a…street fighter,"

"Maybe Ling should fight," Al suggested, "I mean, you can't even beat me, big brother,"

"I beat you all the time!" Ed snorted.

"Only because you're always cheating!"

"Hey, fair's fair,"

"That's _not _fair though,"

"I want to fight the strong kid and what I say goes!"

"Is Greed still in there or something?"

"He has rubbed off on me a little…"

* * *

><p>The crowd watched curiously. Kyouya was surprised; did Ling and Ed really know what a Haninozuka was capable of? He doubted it, or else they wouldn't be arguing over who gets to fight.<p>

"I'm fighting the brat and that's final!" Ed shouted.

"Not if I get there first!" Ling yelled. They both charged at Hunny, but the boy, Alphonse, according to his files, stepped in front of them. They both looked unwilling to plough into the younger Elric brother and stopped.

"How about this; big brother fights Hunny senpai and if he loses, you can have a go, Ling? If that's okay with you, Hunny senpai?" the boy seemed like the peacemaker in the group.

Kyouya turned to see Hunny's reaction, which was as normal, "Sure thing," Hunny agreed enthusiastically.

"But if Ed fights first I doubt I'll get a go," Ling complained. Kyouya was intrigued. Ling seemed to know who the Haninozukas were, yet he was still this confident that Ed would win?

"Sucks to be you, Ling," Ed grinned and moved to stand opposite Hunny.

"I'll referee," Mori volunteered, "The rules will be first to surrender or be knocked unconscious loses," Ed and Hunny agreed.

"Begin,"

* * *

><p>"Hunny senpai has leapt up and launched a round house kick at Ed's head," Hikaru and Kaoru yelled, acting as commentators for the benefit of the amassing crowd.<p>

"Ed has caught it easily and flipped Hunny senpai!" Kaoru yelled

"But it's okay; it looks like Hunny is pulling out…yes, three kunai!" Hikaru shouted.

"What the hell? You use kunai?!" Ed yelled dodging the first two easily, the second one nicking his shoulder, "Like that's freaking fair!"

"You are permitted to use any weapons you would like," the tall, morose looking referee intoned.

Ed growled at him, "Why didn't you say that earlier?"

Ed pulled out three kunai of his own. He kept a store of them on his person for practising alkahestry with Mei, though he'd never imagined he'd use it at school.

"It looks like the newbie has a few tricks up his sleeve!" Kaoru called.

"Where did you get that from, Ed?" Winry asked as Ed ran towards Hunny, taking a flying leap at him.

"I've been practicing," Ed replied as he tossed the kunai at Hunny, but missed quite badly, one going too far left, one too far right and the other sailing above his head.

"I think someone needs to practice harder," Ling laughed. Ed took a second to throw one at Ling, who caught it with a chuckle.

"It looks like the newbie is now firing his badly aimed knives at members of the audience!"

"Will you guys shut up?!" Ed yelled at the two twins, considering whether or not to chuck a few kunai at them too.

Hunny pulled out a pole and made a swipe at Ed's head.

"And Hunny has produced a staff from who-knows-where!"

Ed ducked and launched his fist at Hunny, who caught it with two hands. Ed brought his knee up, but miscalculated how short Hunny was and came close to knocking him in the face. Hunny jumped back and Ed flung two more grossly imprecise kunai.

"That looked like a close one for Hunny,"

"Good thing Ed can't aim though!"

"Brother, maybe you should give it up with the kunai," Al suggested.

Ed grinned and clapped his hands, Al, Ling and Winry understood. The kunai Ed had thrown had landed in a large circle about ten metres in diameter. Ed slammed his hands on the ground, but nothing seemed to happen. The crowd didn't pay it much mind, though, as they were focusing on Hunny, who had produced two sets of nunchakus and was waving them around dramatically, making sure he had a good feel for them before renewing his attack on Ed.

"It looks like Hunny has found yet another weapon!"

Hunny swung the weapon fiercely, but Ed backflipped out of the way, kicking up and knocking one set out of Hunny's hand.

"An impressive display of acrobatics from the newcomer!" He then pinwheeled his legs and caught Hunny in the flank.

"It looks like Hunny's been hit by Ed's foot!"

Hunny stumbled backwards and Ed pursued, not giving him a chance to catch his breath.

Ed led with a right hook, then a solid half kick. Hunny jumped and vaulted over Ed, landing in his circle of kunais. Hunny was surprised to feel the ground softer, muddier than he anticipated and he slipped. He landed hard on the ground. Ed grinned and pulled out his last kunai and held it to Hunny's throat.

"Match to Edward," Mori called out, halting the match.

Ed walked over to his friends who congratulated him, but whispered that he cheated.

"I'm a street fighter," Ed defended himself. He went to pick up his kunai. As he reached for the last one, Hunny picked it up and offered it to him.

"That was a good match, Ed chan! You're really good," Hunny said brightly. Ed was surprised that he wasn't sore about losing.

"You were really good, too," Ed said, accepting the kunai.

"Did you train a lot back in Germany?"

"I guess you could say that,"

Mori came up behind them, "We'll hold up our end of the bargain and we'll leave Winry chan alone,"

"You'd better; or I'll beat the crap out your whole club," Ed stared menacingly towards the other members of the host club.

"Ed chan, I'm really sorry about what's happened to Winry chan; Tamaki just went a bit overboard. Don't blame him, please. He just really liked Haru chan," Hunny said with puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, well, Winry's one of my best friends so he'd better stay away from her," Ed said, easing up a bit.

* * *

><p>"Edward kun, you were so cool!"<p>

"Where'd you learn to fight like that, Edward kun?"

Ed ignored all of the squealing fangirls, who seemed to have multiplied in number since the beginning of the match. He glared at them, hoping they would take the hint, but they squealed louder, shrieking that he was "so cool!"

"Looks like you've got a fanbase, Ed," Ling nudged the blonde who was blushed to the roots of his hair. The girls could be heard crying that he was "so cute!" at the sight.

"You really didn't have to do this for me, Ed," Winry said, lagging behind the group, feeling guilty as Ed checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding anywhere.

"Hey, you said you'd give me your whole life, that includes your burdens," Ed said. He blushed deeper, if that was at all possible. Winry smiled and caught up to him, giving him a small hug.

* * *

><p>"Awww," Al cooed. Ed thumped him on the head and they laughed their way back to class.<p>

When Ed and the others returned from Ouran, the first thing they did was change out of the stuffy uniform. They knocked on Winry's door and asked them to come hang out. Winry said she'd come over when Haruhi got home from school, which would be another hour or so. Mei agreed to come over right away to show them some Alkahestry.

"I heard that Ed fought with a Haninozuka today," Mei commented as she showed them different ways of sensing the earth's pulse, which was a lot weaker since they were in an apartment.

"Yup, beat him, too," Ed said.

"He only won because he cheated, as usual," Al grinned, finding a chi line and following the path, directing it towards his transmutation circle. Al was interested in alkahestry, but still had his alchemy and could even perform it by merely clapping his hands.

"Hey, he randomly pulled out kunai and tried to stab me, I think he started it!" Ed found a pulse as well and able to direct the energy into making the water in the pot boil.

They continued until a knock on their door signalled the end of their practice,

"Hey, are you guys home?" Haruhi asked.

"Yeah, Haruhi, come in, the doors unlocked," Ed called.

"You guys have mail, you know," Winry said coming in behind Haruhi. She handed Ed a crisp white envelope, "It was put into my box by mistake,"

"Oh, thanks," Ed said. It was addressed to him in German, "To Colonel Elric," it read.

"Shit, this can't be good," Ed cursed as he ripped open the seal and read the contents of the letter in the blink of an eye.

"What's wrong, big brother?" Al asked.

"Mustang's coming,"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 4<p>

DUN DUN DUN, if that's not a cliff hanger, then I don't know what is!

I hope you guys loved this chapter! i made it longer just for you! I was considering ending before Hunny Vs Edward fight, but i thought that was just too cruel :P.

Yes, so i've been busy with uni, being a first year and trying to make friends (which is really hard to do, mind you)

If anyone out there has any good tips on making friends or finding a boyfriend, let me know, cuz i'd love some advice. Sighhhhh life is complicated sometimes. If anyone just wants to chat about life, love or friendship send me a PM and i'll try to get back to you as swiftly as possible

Until next time, my friends!

:D Laughing On The Inside :D


	5. Celebrations And A Blossoming Romance?

A/N; Sup guys, been a while, eh? I hope you guys are still interested in my story; i've made it extra long just for you beautifully patient people.

Your reviews are magic and i'm sorry that i can't reply to them all individually, but know that i love you guys :D :D

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 5: Celebrations And A Blossoming Romance?_

"Ed, who's Mustang?" Haruhi asked.

Ed looked at Haruhi, trying to judge how much he wanted to tell her.

"Oh, come on Ed, Haruhi's cool," Winry chided.

"Yeah, okay. Just don't tell anyone. Mustang's my commanding officer," Ed grumbled.

"Commanding officer?" Haruhi was confused.

"Did you hear about the civil war in Germany a few months ago?" Winry asked.

"Yeah, but there wasn't much," Haruhi said remembering the few mentions that were made in the news.

"It was a lot bigger than they let on. Anyway, I was part of it because I'm a dog of the military,"

"But, your only seventeen," Haruhi reasoned.

"I'm sixteen, but I was accepted because I'm a prodigy," Ed grinned arrogantly.

"More like a freak," Winry grinned.

"Anyway, Mustang is a General and outranks me. I'm part of his commandment so he's forcing me to go to some meeting with Japanese officials next month. Fuhrer Grumman wants to make more allies and create more ties with other countries and sent Mustang here since he knows I'm already in Japan,"

"Hah, Ed, sucks to be you! You're going to a boring, stuffy meeting filled with old politicians!" Ling laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you; it's a meeting with the prime minister, some wealthy business representatives, the Emperor of Japan and his elected heir; Ling Yao,"

Ling couldn't help exclaiming with joy, "Me?!"

"Yup; looks like you've been chosen,"

"Congratulations, Ling!" Winry and Al shouted, giving him a hug.

"I'm glad that it was you, big brother," Mei said, but looking a bit down.

"Don't worry, little sister, I'm going to keep my promise; I won't let anything bad happen to your family," Mei looked grateful.

"Let's celebrate!" Ed yelled and they all agreed.

"What should we do?" Al asked.

"Let's go eat!" Ed and Ling shouted in unison.

"Okay, we'll go find a local restaurant," Winry agreed, "Come on everyone, let's go, do you want to change out of your uniform first, Haruhi?"

Haruhi was happy for Ling; she had concluded that there the royal family had to compete for the crown somehow or other and that Ling had been the standout. The choosing of the emperor was kept secret from the public. Haruhi looked up when Winry called her name.

"I wouldn't want to impose…" Haruhi began.

"Don't be stupid, you're coming too!" Ed said.

"Yeah, we're gonna party it up!" Ling pumped his fist in the air.

* * *

><p>The six of them decided on roaming the town until they found a place that caught their interest. Mei pointed to a posh looking, traditional Japanese restaurant. They agreed,<p>

"This will be our first time having authentic Japanese food," Al noted.

"It'll be our first time having Japanese food full stop, Al," Ed said as they were shown to a large table.

They weren't sure what any of it was, Ling and Mei explained as best they could what each of the dishes was. Haruhi was unsure, too, about some of the more exotic delicacies. This restaurant was a lot fancier than what she was used to, even after all of her time in Ouran.

The waitress, dressed in a kimono and hair twirled up in chopsticks, came to take their order.

"We'll have two of everything," Ed exclaimed.

The waitress tried to hide her surprise, but couldn't help implying that it would be a lot of food. Winry reassured the waitress that it would be fine and she left.

"Oh, I'll call Ran Fan, to join us," Ling suggested, everyone encouraged the idea and, just as the food arrived, Ran Fan appeared out of the shadows.

"Good evening, young master. You wished to speak to me?"

"Guess who's the newly chosen heir to the emperor," Ran Fan looked to Ling and, seeing the goofy grin on his face, gave a warm, genuine smile, which was hidden behind her red and white mask.

"I knew you could do it," Ran Fan congratulated her master and accepted the invitation to join them for dinner; after all they had ordered a crapload of food.

"Oh, Ran Fan, this is Haruhi," Winry introduced her. Winry had met with Ran Fan a lot after the Promised Day scandal. She liked the ninja, a lot; she reminded her of Miss Hawkeye. Winry admired her strength and dedication. She had even crafted her a new automail arm; lighter and more durable with a few hidden compartments and a blade attachment.

"Hello, Ran Fan san," Haruhi replied. Ran Fan nodded, Haruhi couldn't tell what emotion went on behind her mask, but was extremely curious. She didn't say anything out of politeness, though.

"Hey, Ran Fan, take off your mask; you can't eat with that thing on," Ling advised. Ran Fan hesitated.

"We all know what you look like and Haruhi is a good friend, so it's okay," Al said softly. She nodded. Haruhi was surprised that the _girl_ was quite young; the same age as the rest of them even. She looked quite typical, but still very pretty.

"Where've you been all this time, Ran Fan?" Winry asked.

"I went back to the palace for a few months to undertake a ceremony of grievance for my grandfather's death," Winry patted her on the shoulder, "I'm now ready to fulfil my duties in protecting the young master, though," She said.

"Are you going to enrol in school, then?" Ling asked. Ran Fan shook her head; she had decided to merely watch from the shadows and train. Further conversation was cut short by the waves of food being presented on the table. The group looked curiously at the stacks of food that covered every inch of the table.

"Hey, Ling what's that," Ed asked pointing at some odd looking orange bubbles.

"That's tobiko; fish roe,"

"What's this one, Mei?" Winry asked pointing to some brown sesame seed covered items.

"Octopus," They ate the sushi and were surprised at the different flavours and odd textures. Ed and Ling competed to see who could eat the most bowls of ramen, udon, rice and soba. They both died at about six. Ed dared Al to eat some odd looking foods, which made him gag, and Al dared Ed to eat a glob of wasabi. Ed made the funniest face before nearly chugging a jug full of water. Ran Fan and Haruhi taught Winry how to use chopsticks and were surprised at her dexterity, attained through years of working with her hands.

By the end of the night they were stuffed full. Ed asked for the bill and Ling offered to pay.

"Nah, I got this," Ed said, "Though I swear this is the last time I'm shouting food for you," he said remembering all the debt Ling and Ran Fan had racked up in his hotels through room service. Haruhi offered to pay her part as well when she noticed the bill. She was amazed at the cost, but Ed waved it off saying it wasn't a big deal. Even after a year in Ouran, Haruhi still wasn't used to the vast amounts of money some people could easily spend.

They returned to the apartments and said good night. They had decided on all having a sleepover at Ed and Al's, but Haruhi declined the invitation saying she had to take care of her dad.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Ed was unpleasantly swamped with fangirls, all fawning over him, praising him for his amazing battle with Hunny. Ed fended them all off as best he could, Al, Ling and Winry just laughed at the highly amusing scene.<p>

"Aren't you concerned, Winry?" Ling asked as another girl came up to Ed and shyly handed him a love letter.

"Not in the least; I think this is hilarious," Winry laughed as Ed went red to the roots of his hair and apologised; he wasn't good with girls, "I know Ed loves me and I love him too,"

Ling was happy for the two of them. Ran Fan watched from a clandestine position in a tree, though Ling could sense her presence.

When class began, Winry was again glared at by the girls, though there were even more than usual; she deduced that they were either angry about the scholarship, didn't like her 'commoner' status or they had a crush on Ed and were jealous. She didn't care though, pouring all of her attention into the class and teaching, but still keeping a wary eye out for the two Hitachin twins who were in her every class. They often played sneaky tricks on her or threw bits of paper at her when she wasn't looking, but it looked like they were keeping up their end of the bargain, as they merely stared curiously at her throughout class.

They pulled her aside gently during the break. Winry was suspicious, but decided to hear them out, resolving to bash them up with her wrench if they bugged her.

"Hey, Winry…" Hikaru began.

"We're sorry for what the club's been doing…" Kaoru continued.

"We didn't mean to hurt you…"

"The king…"

"Tamaki senpai…"

"He just really liked Haruhi…"

"So…"

"Yeah. Sorry," The two twins looked genuine, so she forgave them.

"You're really forgiving us this easily?" Hikaru asked.

"It's fine, I don't mind," Winry brushed it off. She really didn't care that much.

"To be honest, we think you're quite interesting," Kaoru said.

"Uhh…okay…" Winry was quite unsure as to whether they were complimenting her or teasing her.

"Hey! What are you guys doing to Winry? If you're picking on her, I swear I'll beat the shit out of you!" Ed yelled, catching sight of Winry backing away from the two Hitachiins.

"Oh, Ed! Don't worry; they were just apologising,"

Ed gave them a suspicious look.

"It's true, Ed,"

"We were,"

"We're really sorry about this whole thing,"

"We only did it 'cause we thought it would be fun,"

"We didn't mean any harm,"

Ed was about to club them over the head –they picked on Winry for fun!-but Winry pulled him back.

"That's okay," Winry said, "Do you want to join us for lunch?"

* * *

><p>Ed sat next to Winry and opposite the two Hitachiins, one sat next to Al and the other sat next to Ling. He, as per usual, attacked his food with more vigour than manners, as did Ling. Al fell into conversation with one of the twins, Ed wasn't sure which one; nor did he care.<p>

"So, Hikaru, right?" Al asked.

"No, I'm Kaoru," the twin said.

"No, I'm Kaoru," the other argued.

"Oh, then I am Hikaru,"

"Just kidding, I'm Hikaru," Al and Winry laughed at their antics, Ed and Ling didn't give a damn, much too busy with their food to care. Hunny and Mori joined them and Hunny introduced them to his bunny. Hunny had an impressive stack of sweets loaded on his platter and pretended to feed some to his bunny. Winry squealed that he was such a cutie, Ling swiped a cake from Hunny's plate and Ed snatched the cake from Ling. Kyouya and Tamaki arrived in the cafeteria in time to see their club befriending the new comers.

"What do you think, mama, should we let bygones be bygones?" Tamaki asked. Though it killed him inside, perhaps he should just make his peace. He wasn't acting like himself and he missed being jolly and optimistic. They would come up with another plan to get Haruhi back into Ouran, maybe the newcomers could even help; they all seemed to be geniuses according to Kyouya's databanks.

"I think we should. They could be quite useful allies," Kyoya and Tamaki made their way to the table.

"Do you mind if we take a seat?" Tamaki asked. Ed glared up at him.

"What the hell…" Al covered his brother's mouth.

"It's rude to talk and eat at the same time, big brother. Tamaki senpai of course you and your friend can sit with us," Al smiled warmly.

"We'd first like to say sorry to you, Miss Rockbell," Tamaki bowed to her, then took a seat. Ed still fumed, but Kyouya ignored this, "Alphonse right? You go to the middle school?"

Al nodded, his white uniform standing out quite plainly amongst the blues and yellows.

"I'm a year younger than brother," Al said.

"Wait, then shouldn't you be in our year?" Hikaru asked.

"Oh, no. I'm the right age; brother should be in your year,"

"Why aren't you, Ed?" Kaoru asked.

"I wanted a scholarship and there's only one per year," Ed shrugged and ignored their stares.

_Amazing_, Kyouya thought. He was a year younger than all of them, yet he was the smartest in their year; Edward Elric could be a powerful ally indeed. It was a good thing that Ed didn't have the money or he would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Ed was, again, unaware of the doe eyed stares from the girls sitting on surrounding tables. Tamaki, however wasn't. He decided to renew his conviction to make Ed join the host club, as well as befriend the golden eyed boy.

"So, Ed, tell us about yourself," Tamaki suggested.

"I'm from Germany and I'm quite pissed off at some certain people for being bastards to a certain friend of mine," Ed growled.

There was an icy silence around the table, broken when Ed was hit on the head with a wrench.

"They've apologised, so let it go!" Winry said.

"Hey, that hurts! Stupid automail freak," Ed complained.

"Learn to control your temper, Ed!"

"Learn to control your wrench!"

Ed and Winry continued bickering quite loudly, Ling and Al laughed at them and let out a small sigh of relief. The host club was also beginning to notice a pattern. The tense atmosphere instantly lightened and Tamaki found he quite liked the group.

* * *

><p>Mei, meanwhile, was having quite a lot of fun in the elementary school. She missed Alphonse sama, of course, but she spent her time in class day dreaming about him. She got in trouble a few times for not paying attention, but she didn't really care. Since Ling had promised that he would put an end to the inter clan fighting, her world seemed a lot brighter.<p>

When the bell for lunch rang, she made her way out of the Elementary school compound, deciding to that she would try to find Alphonse sama and have a romantic lunch date with him. She didn't really have a clue as to where to start, was soon side-tracked by intriguing sounds from the gym. She made her way through a crowd of squealing middle school girls and saw what was going on; it was a martial arts club!

There were quite a few people practicing, most looking slow and rigid when compared to her; but she thought it also looked like great fun. She made her way into the gym, amidst a lot of protest from the girls.

"HEY! You!"

Mei looked up. A blonde kid with glasses was pointing to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"What are you doing in here?!"

"My name is Mei Xiao, I would like to join," She said politely.

"Kids can't join; get out!" he shouted. Mei pouted.

"No!" she said, "You can't boss me around! I want to join,"

"Little girls can't join the club, you're just going to get hurt," The boy with glasses dismissed her.

"I bet I'm better than you are!" Mei challenged.

The boy turned to face her, "Do you know who I am?"

Mei raised an eyebrow, "Do you know who _I _am?" Of course, Mei knew that he couldn't know who she was, but she was getting very aggravated.

"I'm the heir to the Haninozukas!" the boy yelled.

"What the hell is a Haninozuka?!" Mei yelled back, of course she knew, but she just felt like pissing the blonde boy off. Edward was rubbing off on her.

"We're the strongest family in the world!"

"Yeah right, I know a tonne of people stronger than you," Mei snorted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Mei and the blonde boy glared at each other until a boy with a kendo stick came and bashed the blonde in the head.

"Yasuchika!" the black haired boy yelled, "Are you picking on a little girl?!" he yelled.

"OW! Satoshi, you idiot! You can't bring swords into the dojo!"

"You need to be taught a lesson! Stop picking fights!"

"Can I join now?" the black haired boy stopped pounding the blonde's head in.

"You want to join the karate club?" he asked.

"Yes please," she said.

"Uh…kid, I dunno, it might be a bit rough for you,"

"How about I fight with the leader; if I lose, I'll go away,"

"Fine!" Yasuchika yelled, "If it'll get you to leave!" As a ring was being cleared, Mei got changed into a spare uniform for beginners to train in. It was just slightly too big, but she tied the belt tight and rolled up her sleeves. She emerged from the changing room to find the entire gym gathered around the ring in anticipation.

"Ready?" Satoshi asked Yasuchika dropped into a stance. Mei watched him with a calculating eye, then dropped into her own, "Begin!"

Yasuchika ran towards the small girl and aimed a weak kick. She leapt towards him, vaulted of his shoulder and did a somersault, landing behind him and ducking under another of Yasuchika's kicks. She swept her foot out and caught Yasuchika's ankle. He stumbled back and Mei took the opportunity to jump and kick him lightly in the chest, toppling him over and out of the ring. She bowed.

"Winner; Grade School Kid!" Satoshi announced.

The club members stared at her and she smiled shyly. She bowed again.

"Wow, you're really good! What family are you from?" one of them asked.

"Uh…I'm from the Xiao family," She said, though she refused to specify any further.

"That was amazing, kid, where'd you learn to fight like that?" Satoshi asked.

"I've been training since I was young,"

"Well, good job! You really put Yasuschika in his place!" Satoshi grinned. He continued to compliment Mei as Yasuchika nursed his wounds. Eventually, the bell rang and Mei bowed again, saying that she was going to be late for her classes.

"Hey!" Yasuchika yelled, getting up, "who are you?" he asked as Mei left to change.

"I'm Mei Xiao," She smiled and thanked Yasuchika, "You're very good, you know. You need to work more on balance, though," She smiled again and Yasuchika felt his cheeks grow warm. Satoshi laughed and whispered quietly to him,

"Does little ol' Chika chan have a crush?"

* * *

><p>As lunch ended, Ed and Ling made their way back to their second year classes, Winry to her first year and Al made his way back to the middle school. He was oblivious to the rumours buzzing around him about a little girl who beat up Yasuchika and made his way to his classroom.<p>

He opened the door and took his seat, preparing his books for chemistry.

"Hey, Yasuchika kun, could I borrow your science homework, please?" one of Al's classmates begged the boy who sat behind Al.

"No, go do it yourself," Yasuchika growled.

"Geez, he's so stingy," the boy complained to Al. Al was quite popular in his class. He made friends easily and all the girls thought he was the cutest; his impeccable manners coupled with his innocent, puppy dog eyes drove them wild.

"I'll lend you mine, if you want," Al offered.

"Thanks, Al! Yasuchika should learn from his older brother," The boy said, loud enough for Chika to hear.

"Don't ever mention Mituskini in front of me!" The blonde yelled.

"Is there bad blood between him and his brother?" Al asked.

"Yeah. You probably wouldn't have met him, but Yasuchika's got an older brother in highschool called Mitsukini senpai, though everyone calls him Hunny senpai,"

"Oh! I have met him! He's really nice," Al said surprised that he didn't pick it up earlier; they looked very alike.

"I know, if only Yasuchika were that nice,"

"Yasuchikaaaaa!" Satoshi sung barging into the classroom.

"What, Satoshi?"

"Lend me your math stuff pleaaaase," He begged.

"No! Bugger off!"

"If you don't I'll reveal your new crush!" Satoshi threatened, but it was too late; the whole class was in an uproar.

"Yasuchika kun you like someone?!"

"Who is it?"

"Are they from this class?"

The barrage of questions just grew more and more insistent until Yasuchika exploded, "It's none of your damn business!" he yelled.

He glared at all of them, the girls giggled, but returned to their seats as the teacher came in.

"Okay, class, I'm handing back your tests,"

Al, of course, aced it easily. Yasuchika, however, failed miserably, shoving the paper in his bag. He excelled in every subject except for chemistry.

"Dammit!" Yasuchika muttered to himself. This day was not going well; he got beaten by a little girl, he got reprimanded by Satioshi, again, and he failed his chem test. And everyone thought he had a crush; which he totally didn't! Chika glared out the window, _I wonder what that girl's doing anyway…_

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 5<p>

I BET YOU GUYS DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING. hahah, Chika chan and Mei? what do you guys think? Who will win Mei's heart? What will happen when Mustang drops in for a visit?

Anyway, if you guys loved it, hated it, have great suggestions to make it better, drop me a line.

And thanks again, guys, for your patience with me! :D


	6. Getting Along

A/N: WHAT UP MAH PEOPLE? an update? within half a year of my previous one? INCONCEIVABLE. i know.

Anyways, i wanted to say again how much i appreciate the reviews! I do read them all, just fyi, i just take a while getting there.

As proof, I shall answer a couple of questions that have cropped up;

Rashelle; Mei's last name is Chang, I wrote this in Chap 2, i don't know if explained it well, but when enrolled in Ouran, all the members of the royal family change their names to Xiao because it's a common last name and their real names, I assume in this modern day and age, would be public knowledge, ergo they change their names to avoid attention from classmates. (sometimes i think that i'm overthinking things)

Yo; I appreciate your compliments, it's so nice to know that i've really pleased people! To note, Mustang isn't blind (just so that you don't get a shock when he shows up) his eyes were cured by Marcoh and his philospher's stone (this is canon).

To everyone else; THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT :D

if you guys have specific questions, i will totally answer them if you want! Anyway, enjoy the story! :D

PS, this chapter was supposed to go out a couple days ago, but then i decided to edit some stuff so i postponed this chapter in case i wanted to add some backstory to it.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY :D

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 6: Getting Along  
><em>

"Hey, Haruhi!" Ed and the gang called as they knocked on the door. A moment later, Haruhi greeted them with a happy smile and welcomed them in. It was a Saturday and she had invited them all over for lunch, since her father was curious about her new friends.

When Ryouji "Ranka" Fujioka, had first learnt that his precious daughter's scholarship was taken away, he was up in arms, claiming he would tear down the school. Haruhi had assured him that she would work harder during the Mid-Year exams to try and regain her scholarship and that she was completely fine. Ranka was unsure. He loved his daughter to bits, but he admitted that he didn't know her too well; she kept her emotions in check and always put on a happy face, sometimes he worried it was just a façade.

When the year began, he noticed her staying up later and she seemed quite happy. He asked her about this and she replied that she had made some new friends in the apartment next door. Ranka was very curious as to whom these friends were; would they be no good, idiots like that "Tamaki Suoh" and his bunch of weird friends? Ranka hoped to hell not. He asked Haruhi if she wanted to invite them over on Saturday for lunch and she readily agreed. Apparently they had taken her out to a nice restaurant and she wanted to repay the favour. Ranka hoped that she wasn't making friends with another group of rich boys; they seemed like far too much trouble.

Ranka's apprehensive musings were interrupted, "Hey, Haruhi!" a group of voices called from outside. Haruhi opened the door and Ranka stood behind the kitchen door to watch her friends enter.

The first was a beautiful blonde girl with crystal blue eyes. She looked cheery and bright, greeting Haruhi and asking how she was. Ranka approved of her; she didn't seem overly girly, though, which was too bad because Ranka was hoping Haruhi would make some new girl friends that would encourage her feminine side.

After her, another girl followed, bowing slightly; very formal and very respectful. She had long dark hair and carried a red and white mask at her belt. Again, Ranka approved of any girl friends that Haruhi made. Following her was a small child, about ten who looked quite excited and happy, a small panda on her shoulder. She looked about the room in wonder and talked to her pet. Ranka approved; she was such a cute kid!

The last three, Ranka wasn't too sure of. Two were definitely brothers. The first one had short blonde hair and golden eyes. He greeted Haruhi politely and said they had a lovely house. He was respectful and seemed very gentle. Ranka approved.

The other two had long hair, first one had it dark and swept into a ponytail. The last boy had hair in a long plait and golden eyes. He had a smile on his face and greeted Haruhi with a, "Hey, Haruhi, what's up?" He laughed and talked easily in an enigmatic way. Neither of the last two seemed to have any romantic feelings for Haruhi so they, too, got, begrudging, approval.

"Welcome to my home," Haruhi said and offered them tea in assorted cups.

"Thanks, Haruhi!" they said. His daughter then brought out plates of food that she had made and set them on the table.

"Hello," Ranka said, coming out from the doorway.

They looked up and greeted him. Haruhi introduced them to each other.

"Thank you for having us, Fujioka san" they said to him.

'That's okay, kids, call me Ranka," He took a seat next to Haruhi and they began chatting while they ate the food.

"Wow, this is really good," They each complimented Haruhi's cooking.

"Thank you," Haruhi said.

The conversation was focused mostly on what Germany was like and how they settling into Japanese life. Eventually the topic moved onto careers.

"What do you want to be, Winry?" Haruhi asked.

"A mechanic, though I'm sort of already one so…" Winry shrugged. The girl was already a mechanic at her age? Ranka was impressed.

"What do you do, Ranka san?" Alphonse asked politely.

"I work in a transvestite bar,"

There was a pause. Then, "You have to meet Mustang," Ed grinned.

"Brother, you're an idiot,"

"What, I'm sure Mustang would love to meet him" Ed said defending himself. He looked to Ranka, "My friends back in Germany always say Mustang could hit it off with anyone in a skirt," Ed said politely.

Ranka mimicked Ed's grin, "Is that so?"

The two shared a laugh and the conversation spiralled and broke off into a tangent from there. Ed argued more with his brother and Ling, which made Winry laugh and Haruhi asked them all a lot of questions, which Alphonse usually answered. The small girl made a comment that riled Ed up and Ling stoked the flames until Winry chided him. Ranka liked these kids.

"Hey, Haruhi, where's your mother?" the little girl, Mei, asked. Ranka looked at his daughter.

"She passed away a while ago," Haruhi responded softly. Ranka suppressed the urge to hug his daughter fiercely.

"Our mother passed away, too," Al said.

"So did our father," Ed said.

"My parents died as doctors in one of the wars," Winry said.

"I lived with my grandfather who recently passed away," RanFan said quietly.

"We've never met our father," Mei and Ling said.

Ranka was amazed. These kids could really relate to his daughter, offering her genuine, heartfelt smiles of encouragement. Haruhi smiled back. Ranka smiled too, nodding to himself; his daughter will be just fine.

* * *

><p>On Monday, Ed and the others went back to school. Ed was on better terms with Kyoya and Tamaki, after they had apologised during lunch the previous week, so when they sat near each other in class, he didn't glare at them. Much.<p>

"So, Ed," Tamaki began, "Are you a commoner?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. It certainly was the oddest insult he'd ever been dealt. He was about to take offence, but, after looking at Tamaki's genuinely curious expression and open smile, he realised that it hadn't been meant as an insult; Tamaki was just an idiot.

"You could have phrased that better," Ed replied, rolling his eyes, "What do you mean by 'commoner'" Ed was pretty sure he didn't count as one, being part of the military and all.

"Do you go to shopping malls? Do you live in apartments?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh, tell me what it's like!" Tamaki asked, fascinated by the ways of the commoner.

"I don't know what Xing life is like; I lived in Amestris for all of my life,"

"Really? It doesn't sound like it; you've hardly got an accent. When did you start learning?"

"A month ago or so," Ed replied.

"Wow, you really _are_ smart!" Tamaki exclaimed.

Ed snorted, "You just realised?"

"What was your life like back in Germany?"

Ed paused to think about it, "Rewarding, I guess. It was…an adventure,"

"So how did you meet your friends? School?" Tamaki asked.

"Nah, Winry grew up in the same village as Al and me. We met Ling when we were travelling,"

"Travelling?"

"Yeah, I haven't been to school since…fifth grade?"

"What?!"

Ed shrugged, "I'm not called a child prodigy for no reason,"

"Who calls you a child prodigy?"

"Everyone who meets me," Ed grinned. They were eventually shushed by the teacher.

* * *

><p>During lunch they all ate together on the same table again. The Hitachiin twins were taking turns at trying to piss Ed off, Winry wasn't helping, Ling was making conversation with Hunny, Al was talking to Mori, Tamaki was being generally loud and Kyoya was watching the interactions with interest.<p>

"Oi, red headed idiot no.1, stop stealing my food! Idiot no.2, stop pouring pepper into my soup!" Ed yelled as he caught Hikaru trying to snatch one of Ed's bread rolls, while Kaoru poured pepper and god knows what else into Ed's chowder.

"But you eat way too much…"

"Yeah, you're going to get sick," Kaoru added.

"We're just being helpful," they said in stereo with identical evil grins.

"How is pouring crap into my food supposed to help, dumbasses?"

"You won't eat it, then!"

"Or you will and we'll laugh!"

Ed was about to lunge over the table and throttle them both, but Winry pulled him back down.

"Ed, you're going to spill everything!"

"They're begging me to punch them in the face!"

"You can't bruise my beautiful face!" Hikaru said, fake tears in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Hikaru, I'll still love you, no matter what you look like," Kaoru cried, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. The girls in the cafeteria, who were furtively eyeing the table, squealed in delight.

"What the f*ck is wrong with you two, go get a room!" Ed complained, shocked and slightly disturbed; it was his first time witnessing their shenanigans. He threw the bread roll that Hikaru was eyeing previously and hit him square on the head.

"Ow, Ed, watch it, you could take an eye out with that!"

"You should be grateful I didn't throw a fork!" Ed shook his fist threateningly at him. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other, identical Cheshire cat grins spreading over their face.

"Would you like to play a game?" they asked in stereo.

"Not really…" Ed responded, afraid of what kind of sick game these two would come up with.

"It's called the 'Which One is Hikaru?' game!"

"That sounds stupid," Ed complained as Hikaru and Kaoru donned caps and shuffled themselves about.

"Okay, which one is Hikaru?" they asked in stereo. Without hesitation, Ling, Ed and Al all pointed to the twin on the right.

"Wrong!"

Ed, Ling and Al looked at each other, "Sorry, guys, I'm pretty sure we're right," Al said.

The twins looked at them oddly, as did the rest of the host club.

"How could you tell who was who?" Tamaki asked.

Ed and Al shrugged, "It's something that comes from being extremely paranoid," they said, referring to their way-too-frequent encounters with Envy. This coupled with their training in alkahestry allowed them to easily differentiate the two; everyone had different energy signatures and while Hikaru and Kaoru were identical twins, their energies, or auras, were completely different.

"Ditto," Ling agreed, though it was mostly through aura sensing as well, a skill he was getting better at, thanks to Ran Fan. "You guys aren't really all that alike, when it comes to personality," Ling continued, using what he could see from their auras as a guide, "Kaoru seems more mature, while Hikaru seems, brattier, no offence,"

Al and Ed agreed with Ling's assessment.

The twins looked at each other. Kaoru smiled faintly, Hikaru mock pouted, but they were both very happy that there were people who did see them as individuals.

"Well, you guys should get a prize!" They announced.

"We shall allow you to come and join the Host Club for a day!"

"I don't want to join your club, I thought I made that clear the first time we met!" Ed growled in frustration.

"Oh, come on, brother, it'll be fun!"

"Do you even know what they do?"

"No, but they're such fun people; I'm sure it'll be enjoyable!"

"Fine, go, but you're not dragging me along!"

* * *

><p>Ed glowered as he watched the club set up for the afternoon. His pouting soon turned to gloating, however, as he watched his friends cringe at the Host Club's antics.<p>

"Told you they were crazy," Ed muttered under his breath to his friends who near the middle of the room on small tables of two. Winry sat with Ed, Al sat with Ling. They weren't sure whether to invite Mei, as they weren't sure how appropriate it would be, but Mei said she had other things to do anyway. Ed sipped coffee out of a delicate tea cup that didn't seem to fit his image at all.

"Look at you Ed, a refined gentleman for once," Winry commented.

"Hey, I have manners. I just don't use them," Ed grinned.

* * *

><p>"Kyoya senpai, can we request Edward san?" asked a gaggle of girls. Kyoya suppressed a sigh; they were the ninth group to ask in that hour.<p>

"I'm sorry, ladies, but Edward isn't a host. He's here merely to enjoy the wonderful sight of such beautiful ladies…"

"What crap are you spouting Kyoya?" Ed yelled from across the room. Kyoya's suppressed an eye-twitch at Ed's vulgar language. The girls giggled. One of them stomped her foot daintily,

"But Winry san gets to request him," she said petulantly.

"Winry chan is his childhood friend, they're just sitting together, Edward's not being a host,"

The girls looked annoyed, so Kyoya followed up with, "But I'm sure a number of our other hosts would love so much to entertain you," At this Tamaki strolled up and yelled sweet nothings in his much-too-exuberant voice.

The girls agreed to spend their afternoon with him instead.

* * *

><p>"Try breathing in deeply," Mei suggested. One of the highschool martial artists had come to her for advice on his punches. He complained that he wasn't getting enough power. Mei instructed him to take a proper stance, a deep breath and keep light on his feet in case he missed.<p>

"She's quite good at this, isn't she?" Satoshi observed. He noticed his friend watching her in a daze; lovestruck. He shook his head violently, growling at Satoshi and the rest of his club,

"She's a nuisance! End of break! You lazy, weak…" Satoshi bashed him on the head.

"A good martial artist keeps his cool!" he yelled.

"Oh, hello Satoshi san, I didn't notice you come in," Mei commented, waving. Satoshi waved back. Mei was a cutie; she was only three years younger than them, but he saw her as a little sister, unlike Chika.

"How are you going, Mei chan?"

"Great! I love this place; it's so much fun!" Mei's expression lit up. Chika blushed to the roots of his hair.

"Ooooooh look at Yasuchika! He's so cute!" the girls cooed from the doorway.

"He must be tired from all the martial arts! He's going red with exertion!" they offered him towels and water, but he just yelled at them all to go away.

"Chika!" Satoshi yelled, "You should be more courteous! Otherwise the girl you like will think you're an ogre!"

"You like someone Chika chan?" Mei asked with surprise.

"No I don't! I don't like anyone! Mind your own business!" Chika growled.

Mei glared back, "You are so short tempered! You really are an ogre," Mei stuck her tongue out and Xiao Mei pounced from her shoulder, biting Chika's hand.

"Get this thing off me!" he yelled, Satoshi laughed and Mei walked away, Xiao Mei trailing after her.

"Smooth," Satoshi commented.

* * *

><p>Chika zoned out during the rest of the next day. <em>She called me an ogre<em>. He thought dejectedly. He glared at nothing in particular, absorbed thoroughly in his daydream. He was like this through most of his classes, but like his brother, he was quite smart, so most of the teachers ignored him. Until he got to chemistry.

"Yasuchika? Yasuchika!"

Chika looked up dazedly, broken out of his thoughts. The teacher sighed and asked again, "What is the answer to 8b?"

Chika's stomach dropped. He fumbled around his notes, hoping that there would be something useful, but highly doubting it. He saw a crumpled piece of paper bounce surreptitiously onto his table. _Ammonium ions_.

"Uhhh…Ammonium ions?" he ventured.

The teacher nodded, but he kept his eye on Chika for the rest of class. Chika looked around to find the sender of the note and caught sight of the blonde two seats behind him to his right smile and wave. Chika nodded his thanks stoically, as was his way, though on the inside he was infinitely grateful. He stared at the boy for a second longer, then focused on the blackboard. He was the new kid in their class. He was apparently a commoner who had gotten in on a scholarship and was extremely smart. He was very kind and well liked. Chika felt himself drifting off again.

"Yasuchika, you've got to do better on these tests and pay more attention in class," The teacher scolded him after Chemistry class.

"Mid-Years are coming up in a few months; you need to pull your grade up if you want to continue in the Karate club," Yasuchika paled, then nodded vigorously; he didn't want to have to relinquish martial arts; it was his life.

"Okay, if you're serious about this, I'll get you a tutor…" The teacher thought for a moment, "Alphonse?" the boy who had thrown the note to Chika looked up. He was still packing his bag. Chika observed that the boy was extremely thin. He moved with a slow precision, placing each book into the bag one at a time. He picked the bag up with some effort and swung it over his shoulders.

"Would you mind tutoring Chika here? You're the best in the class," the teacher asked as he walked up to them.

"Sure," Alphonse agreed, "When are you free?"

* * *

><p>"I can't f*cking believe it," Ed swore. His friends laughed at his attire and left him sitting alone in the apartment as they headed off to school. Ed stood in his full military uniform and raged at nothing in particular. He didn't know what to do with himself while he waited for the car to pick him up.<p>

He went over to Haruhi's apartment and knocked on the door. She answered, standing in her school uniform. She left for school a full hour later than they did, though she got home an hour after them as well, which saved them all the embarrassment of showing her their much too pompous school uniform. Winry had often griped to him about how Haruhi's uniform was so much simpler and wished that hers looked like that.

"Hey, Haruhi, can I hang out with you for a while,"

"Sure, Ed," she showed him into the house and made him some coffee.

"What's with the get up?" she asked.

"This is the Amestrian military uniform. It's the stuffiest thing I've ever worn. Ever." He complained.

"Why are you dressed in it?"

"F*cking Colonel – I mean General –Bastard said I have to. The meeting with the important people is today," he growled pulling at the various tags and medals. He'd been awarded quite a few decorations during the aftermath of the Promised Day scandal. They clinked together and sparkled way too much for his liking.

"You look…smart," Haruhi said with a smile.

"Thanks," he said, adjusting the sleeves.

"If only you'd stop fidgeting," she laughed. Ed grinned. "So where's Ling?" She asked, remembering the prince was also supposed to be present at the meeting.

"It would be better if the emperor didn't know of some of the…expeditions that Ling went on during his time in Amestris, so we're pretending we don't know each other. In fact he's only found out, officially, this morning that he's the heir,"

"Really? So who's going to be at the meeting?"

"I don't really know. The Emperor, Ling, Prime Minister, Executive of some large medical board, Executive of a prestigious school and some other bigwigs," Ed said before he was interrupted by some loud honks.

Haruhi got up and looked outside. She saw a tall, handsome man with black hair standing next to a long white limousine. She noticed that he wore the same outfit as Ed.

"Hey, Ed, I think you're ride is here,"

"Let him wait, I'm still pissed that he's making me wear this," Ed muttered childishly. Haruhi thought that the man looked quite patient and would wait quietly. Boy was she wrong;

"FULLMETAL! If you don't come out here this second, I'm going to torch your building! Don't think I don't mean it!" He yelled. Haruhi stumbled back with surprise.

"Shut up, Colonel Bastard! You'll wake the neighbours!" Ed yelled back louder.

"Fullmetal hurry up! What is that uniform too big? Struggling to fold all the cuffs so that they don't drag on the floor?" he taunted. Haruhi was amused to see Ed fly through her front door with rage and begin yelling at the man.

"Have a good time, Ed!" Haruhi yelled after him.

"Doubt it," Ed replied.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 6<p>

I was considering using the Ranka bit as an Interlude chapter, but then I thought it might be disappointing if i update and people realise it was just some random non-plot related piece of...randomness (I'm a very terrible writer when i don't put my mind to it and i'm so tired right now). Then i thought it was a waste of writing because it adds nothing to the plot and it's not all that interesting so i was going to take it out. Then i decided that since i've written it, i'd might as well post it and if you don't like it, then up to you, but at least this way i'm giving you the choice.

Let me know if you like interludes; should i include more of them or are they a waste of time?

MUSTANG HAS MADE HIS APPEARANCE. GET PSYCHED GUYS, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE DIPLOMATIC MEETING. YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT.

Reviews are much loved; if you have any that you'd like to give away, I'd be happy to adopt them into a loving home in the warm-fuzzy parts of my mind :D :D

If you have any questions, please ask them! I welcome all questions and queries as I have put a lot of thought into this story and hopefully can answer anything you throw at me (emphasis on _hopefully_). Ask nothing about the timeline. It's very, very screwed up. Ignore it. Just enjoy the story. I probably shouldnt have pointed it out, but whatever.

lots of love guys!

:D laughing on the inside :D


	7. Colonel Edward Elric

A/N: I should be studying. I should be studying. I have like three exams next week that decide my future. Oh my god, i should be studying. WHAT EVER #YOLO.

I actually read a really nice quote; "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough". I kind of like it. And it reminds a bit of FMA.

Just to address some reviews from last time:

Clara the Clear said that she believes that Winry is smarter than Haruhi. I agree on some points, but disagree on others. Winry is naturally gifted and she is smart, but so is Haruhi and Haruhi has been studying the curriculum (I can't spell and there's no spell check so whatevs). I reckon that if Haruhi weren't sick, she would have beaten Winry, but that has a lot to do with the fact that Winry hasn't been to school for years. She can't know Japanese history, she can't have done better than Haruhi in Japanese language or English for that matter. She may be smart and she studied hard for the entrance exam, but there are limits. But you raised an interesting point and that's what my opinion is.

Puck and Kyo asked if Ed and Winry are engaged. Yes they are. Everything in the manga happened. This point has very much inspired an idea. When the chapter comes out, i will dedicate it to you. Hope you're still reading my story and you stick around for the chapter (it's probably going to be released in the distant future)

Very quick Recap;

Mustang has arrived in Xing/Japan.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 7: Colonel Edward Elric_

Ed made his way down the stairs and greeted his awaiting superior, though not in the most polite of ways. The limo was apparently rented by the government and had picked Mustang up at his five star luxury hotel. Ed and Mustang climbed into the limo as it set off to their destination. Hawkeye, Mustang's ever present second in command, sat quietly as Mustang filled Ed in on the progress back home. Eventually, the two men were dropped off at the front of an ornate government-looking building while Hawkeye returned to the hotel in order to confirm the schedule for the next day, where Mustang would be given various tours of state-of-the-art Japanese facilities.

"Best behaviour, right Fullmetal?" Mustang whispered as they were led in.

"I know how to handle myself," Ed responded, waving off his superior officer's concerns.

"What do you do when you see the emperor?"

"I know what to do!" Ed growled.

"Humour me,"

"I bow politely," Mustang nodded. It seemed Ed was finally maturing.

"What do you do when a member of parliament speaks to you?"

"I punch them in the face,"

"What was that?" Mustang asked, glaring at his charge.

"I said, I smile politely and greet them with a bow; you getting deaf in your old age, Mustang?" Ed smirked.

_Or perhaps not_. Mustang thought to himself with a wry smile.

They were led into a large conference room where a man in a fine suit greeted them.

"Hello General Mustang. I am the Prime Minister of Japan," the man said with barely passable German. Mustang saluted and Ed followed suit.

"Thank you for having us, sir. Please take care of us," Mustang replied easily in Japanese. Ed wasn't surprised; his commander was a smart man, however, he was also a high ranking military officer who had more important things to do than learn an entirely new language. That was part of the reason why Ed was present; to act as an interpreter when required.

"May I inquire as to when Colonel Elric will be joining us?" the man asked politely. Ed, to his benefit, only gave a small twitch, valiantly smothering his urge to fly off the handle.

"This is Colonel Elric," Mustang said introducing him.

"Oh, I beg your pardon!" the man said with a smile, "You are very young. I must commend you on your amazing ability! To be such a high ranking officer at your age is a great achievement," Edward accepted the praise with a smile and nodded politely.

The pair slowly took in the large room they had been led into. There was an oval table centred at the bottom of some tiered seating. Ed noted that the seats were filled with a few camera crews, but mostly members of parliament. Sitting at the oval table on a regal, almost throne like chair was the Emperor. There were four empty seats next to him, for the German party, then a few high ranking ministers and some business representatives.

From where Ed was, back-stage behind the curtains, he recognised two people and was barely able to keep his face straight. Tamaki and Kyoya sat in the tiered seats of the general public section, near the middle. He wasn't too surprised, though, since he knew they were both from extremely wealthy families. He also wouldn't be surprised if their respective fathers were the business reps. They hadn't noticed him yet, but he looked forward to their reactions. Ed took a step back, falling in line behind Mustang as the prime minister walked forward and began introductions into a microphone, "I would first of all like to welcome the Emperor who has a special announcement,"

"Good morning, my people. As you all know, I have decided upon my successor in these recent months. Today, being a special day, I would like to present to you the new heir to the throne; Ling Yao," The room became dead silent and the crowd held their breath as they watched Ling emerge from one of the doors dressed in fully traditional clothing.

Kyoya and Tamaki couldn't hide their astonishment when they laid eyes on Ling. Ed snickered quietly from the wings, earning a curious look from Mustang. Ed quickly composed himself.

"Thank you, Father. I would like to say that it is an honour to greet you all as your Crown Prince and that I will work hard as your future emperor," there was a lot of clapping and whispering as he bowed and took his seat at the table. The prime minister stood again, this time to introduce Mustang and Edward.

"I would also like to introduce two representatives from Germany who have come to extend their friendship. General Mustang and Colonel Elric,"

Mustang strode confidently out on stage in front of Ed amidst the clapping and a muffled yelp. They both saluted to the Emperor, then bowed. Mustang made a short introduction in German, standing at the podium. He motioned for Ed to translate. Ed took a step forward and spoke in Japanese into a microphone attached to his blue army jacket.

"We are honoured to meet you, Emperor Xiao and we would like to extend the warmest regards from the Amestrian Government. We are also pleased to meet your heir, Ling Yao, and wish him the best of luck in his future duties," Ed stood back in line with Mustang and they both saluted to Ling, who accepted their salute with a nod.

They then took a seat next to the emperor, Mustang sitting on his left and Ling sitting on his right. Ed sat next to Mustang and assumed his most respectful mask of deep interest and professionalism. He looked attentive and nodded at all the right places, but he was pretty much sleeping with his eyes open.

* * *

><p>"Mama, where are we sitting?"<p>

"Tamaki, you know that this is a very important conference and you calling me by that ridiculous nickname is not the first impression I would like to make on these people," Kyoya whispered darkly, shooting a glare at Tamaki.

"Mama is so mean today!" Tamaki pouted. They entered the room and found some seats near the middle. This was the first meeting of parliament that the two had ever been to. Kyoya's father had been invited, as had Tamaki's, as representatives of the business sector. Kyoya was interested in networking with the officials and getting a taste for politics. Tamaki came because he thought it would be fun.

They were both dressed in fine business suits that didn't look the slightest bit out of place. Both men were used to elegant dress codes and lounged easily in their attire. Kyoya was busy checking the schedule and double-checking the time on his watch, while Tamaki entertained himself by flirting easily with a woman minister who had taken a seat next to him. The room hushed when the prime minister took the stage.

They clapped politely when he introduced the Emperor. They were completely and utterly shocked, however, to see Ling standing in the formal garb of a prince.

"What the…" Tamaki began loudly. Kyoya quickly clamped his hand over his friend's mouth and ignored the annoyed glares of the other ministers.

"Is that Ling?!" Tamaki whispered frantically to Kyoya, who had removed his hand after deciding the blonde had calmed enough not to make a spectacle of himself.

"I believe it is," Kyoya adjusted his glasses, his mind whirred almost audibly.

"I can't…but…what…how…"

What came next, however, blew their minds. They saw the rude, unsophisticated, commoner Edward Elric standing with a dignified, professional air and shaking hands with the most powerful people in Japan. He was completely composed and his manners were impeccable with a brilliant smile plastered on his face; if they hadn't witnessed his horrible temper and barbaric behaviour first hand, they would swear the soldier before them was a completely different person.

"WHAT THE-

Again Kyoya gagged his friend, though he, too, was shocked. So many questions.

* * *

><p>After the meeting, Mustang began mingling with a few of the business representatives to get a feel for the economic stability of Japan. Of course, the older man was charming and polite enough to make Ed gag. What made it even worse, though, was the fact that Edward had to translate most of it.<p>

"Colonel Elric, don't you believe this is truly remarkable?" Mustang asked in Japanese. It was one of many set phrases Mustang had memorised.

"Yes sir; I am amazed at the impeccable quality of such a fine establishment," Ed responded automatically. Mustang had practically drilled that phrase into his brain.

"Ah, Colonel Elric, haven't I met you somewhere before?" asked the elder blonde. Ed looked closely at him, then nodded, recognising his face.

"Yes sir, I am a student at your school," Ed replied, remembering him from the scholarship interview. He also looked at the man next to his Principal, who had introduced himself as the manager of a chain of hospitals.

"Ah yes, tell me, how did this not come up in our interview? Actually, how is it that one so young can hold such a rank?"

"Edward is a child prodigy, recognised by the government in Germany. His bravery and overall genius has accelerated him through the ranks and won him many military honours," Mustang said, boasting the talents of his charge, "Though he may be small, he is certainly gifted,"

Ed's charming smile was still firmly fixed in place; only Mustang could feel the malevolence rolling off of the young boy.

"Ah, young Edward certainly is a genius, he has, after all, obtained a scholarship to the one of the most elite schools in Japan," the chairman said, proudly boasting his claim to Edward's genius, "Perhaps if you have some time in your schedule, young Elric will be able to give you a tour of our grand institution,"

Mustang grinned, "That sounds wonderful. I'm sure I can make time to see Edward receiving a real education for once,"

Ed glared at him.

"Speaking of my school, here comes two of my students. This is my son Tamaki Suoh,"

Tamaki shook hands with Mustang.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir," Tamaki said.

"Are you a classmate of Colonel Elric?" Mustang asked, noticing the slight smirk on his charge's face.

"Yes; we're good friends," Tamaki grinned amiably. Edward raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if Tamaki was lying or if he really thought that. Ed had realised over the past month or so, that Tamaki was extremely forgiving and a bit of an airhead.

"And this is my son, Kyoya Ootori," the manager of the hospital chains introduced.

"I have heard great things about Germany's new government and I hope that an alliance will bring benefits to both of our countries," Kyoya said in perfect German, shaking hands with Mustang.

"I hope so too, since your country seems to be one of such prosperity and filled with such remarkable young men such as yourselves," Mustang smiled. Ed shivered at the complete fake-ness he could feel exuding from Mustang and Kyoya's conversation.

They were interrupted when the emperor walked up to their little group. Kyoya, Tamaki and the Japanese businessmen bowed. Edward and Mustang saluted. Tamaki still couldn't get used to seeing Ed so formal.

"General Mustang. I have heard the reports about the political unrest of your country and the great exploits by you and your team. You have my sincere congratulations in your success and my thanks for assisting my son," The emperor said as Ling approached and bowed.

"I am glad to see the prince is healthy; I hope that his adventures in Amestris were fruitful," Mustang said.

"Yes they were," Ling said vaguely, knowing his father, the emperor, didn't know the extent of Mustang's help. He had told him only the barest details of his time in Germany.

"Have you met Colonel Elric?" Mustang said, making sure to keep up the pretence.

"It is an honour to meet the crown prince," Edward replied, saluting to Ling, then shaking his hand.

Tamaki and Kyoya watched their exchange in confusion. They were dying to ask millions of questions, but just barely kept their tongue in check, not wanting to embarrass their fathers.

"Thank you Colonel. I hope that you and your superior will enjoy your time in Japan," Ling said cordially, then followed after his father as he left to greet the other attendees.

* * *

><p>The day progressed slowly for Ed, finishing in a lavish banquet in celebration of the German representatives and the announcement of the crown prince. Kyoya and Tamaki left before this, though, as it was not for the general public. When it was finished, the limousine dropped Edward off first at his apartment. Mustang opened the window and called out to remind him that he would be needed again tomorrow at 0800 sharp to continue his translation duties.<p>

"Better not sleep in, Fullmetal or I'll have to send Hawkeye up to get you," Mustang laughed.

Ed rolled his eyes and flipped off his boss as he made his way up the stairs, falling into bed exhausted.

* * *

><p>Again, the next day, Ed was left alone in the apartment dressed in his military finest while his friends left snickering. Again, Ed decided to pay Haruhi a visit. She was eating breakfast when he found her. She offered him some toast, which he gladly accepted; Ed never turned down food. At 8 am sharp, Ed heard a rapping on the door to his apartment and Mustang yelling for him to open up.<p>

"In here, Colonel Idiot," Ed called.

"I don't know how many times I have to remind you it's General now, Fullmetal," Mustang said as he opened the door to Haruhi's apartment, Hawkeye following behind him.

"Well, I'm technically not Fullmetal anymore, _General_, but I guess old habits die hard," Ed sat cross-legged on the ground, lounging backwards on his elbows, half a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth and his uniform covered in crumbs. Mustang's eye twitched.

"The pride you show in your military dress is simply dismal, Edward,"

Ed smirked, "I can't eat breakfast in my uniform, but Havoc and Breda can gamble, smoke and drink during office hours?"

Mustang returned his own smirk, "And who is this lovely young lady?" He smiled brilliantly at Haruhi, who looked back at him blankly, "You and Winry over already? I knew young love didn't last,"

Ed spluttered on his toast and slipped off his elbows, falling comically and slapping his head hard against the ground, "You're such an ass," he choked out as he picked up his toast and sat back up.

"Haruhi this is my idiotic superior, General Mustang and his second, Major Hawkeye. Colonel Asshole, Major Hawkeye, this is my _neighbour_ Haruhi Fujioka,"

"Hello," Haruhi said smiling, "Can I offer you any tea or toast?"

"I don't know how I could refuse such a kind offer from such a beautiful lady…" Mustang began, he shot a look at Riza who discreetly gestured that there was no time, "But alas, I have business to attend to. As does my lazy subordinate over there," Mustang said motioning for Ed to get up.

Ed stood begrudgingly, thanking Haruhi for the toast and telling her he'd see her later. He waved goodbye and trudged after Mustang, following him outside the apartment to brush off the crumbs. They made their way back to the limo, where Riza pulled out a clipboard with their schedule attached.

"We'll be having breakfast with the Prime Minister and the Emperor at a Michelin-Star restaurant, followed by rounds of the Ootori General Hospital. We will then make our way to the government building to observe parliament and finish with a visit to Ouran High School,"

"You took the principal up on his offer?" Ed cried, "Are you serious?"

"It'll be fun, Fullmetal, now all your friends get to see you in your fancy uniform, if you have any friends," Mustang teased.

"Stupid Colonel, you only want to go so that you can flirt with high-school girls you perverted paedophile,"

Mustang's eyes flashed, "Mini-skirts!"

"Yeah, mini-skirts," Ed grinned.

Mustang shot him a quizzical look. Ed just whistled innocently.

* * *

><p>"Did you guys know that Ling is the crown prince and that Ed was in the – mffghfsh" Winry and Al leapt over the cafeteria table to cover Tamaki's mouth. He was yelling loudly and the entire lunchroom was staring at them. Tamaki gestured frantically to be released and, after getting Winry's approval, both let go.<p>

"What was that for?" Tamaki whined.

"You're making a spectacle. Ed wouldn't want everyone to know he's in the military," Winry said as she sat down. That day had been a total mess. Everyone who was anyone now knew that Ling was the heir apparent to the throne and, because everyone knew Winry was friends with him, this doubled the jealousy. Though there were some people who did a complete 180 degree turn, deciding to pander to Winry and become her best friend. Girls who were completely rude to her three months ago were now complimenting everything about her. She absolutely hated it. Hikaru and Kaoru were completely oblivious, however, as they didn't watch the news, ("Why would we? It's so boringgggg" they said when she asked them).

"Miss Rockbell, it was already broadcasted on the news," Kyoya pointed out.

"Yes, but only Mustang's face was shown. Ed's still a minor so he requested they blur his face," Winry remembered laughing at Ed's pixelated head when the news came on.

"What's going on?" The twins asked in stereo as they placed their lunch trays on the table. Hunny and Mori joined them.

"We're talking about Ed's secret," Tamaki whispered conspiratorially.

"Ed has a secret?!" the twins yelled, manic grins on their faces, "Tell us, tell us, tell us," Hunny joined in chanting too.

"Well," Tamaki began, feeling the angry eyes of Al and Winry, "Ummm…"

Tamaki was saved by a very loud, very angry, very German sounding voice.

"You know what a cafeteria looks like!"

"It wouldn't be a full tour of the school if I didn't get to see the cafeteria, Fullmetal,"

"I'll tell your right now; it looks exactly like the mess hall,"

"Cafeterias are the prime gathering point of high school girls,"

"I know that. And it's lunch time; that's why I don't to go,"

"Nonsense, Fullmetal, I'm sure all your friends are in there-assuming you have any,"

"Gah! Hawkeye? Help me out?" There was a silence.

"As your commanding officer-

"You're pulling rank on me? For this? Urgh!"

The cafeteria went silent as Ed stomped in.

Mustang looked around, "This is nothing like the mess hall. And are your cafeterias always this quiet–

Then the room exploded into noise. Half of the girls were squealing over how cool and sophisticated Ed looked in his uniform, Hikaru and Kaoru were pointing and laughing at him and Tamaki had run up to him with a spiel asking why Ed hadn't told them about his secret past and how he felt so untrusted, dramatic fake tears streaming from his eyes.

Mustang raised his eyebrows, "You certainly are popular," he said over the general chaos.

"You've seen the cafeteria, time to leave now…" Ed said attempting to herd the two Amestrians out the way they came.

"Miss Hawkeye, Mr Mustang," Winry smiled and waved them over.

"Dammit, Winry," Ed muttered.

"Hello again, Miss Winry," Riza greeted her in German.

"Are these your friends, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked.

"I guess you could call them that," Ed said, slumping with defeat, "This is Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin," They smiled and waved in complete synchronicity, "Takeshi Morinozuka, Mitsukini Haninozuka," Both smiled, "And you've met Kyoya and Tamaki. Guys this is General Mustang and Major Hawkeye,"

"Yes, hello to all of you. Thank you for taking care of Colonel Elric, I'm sure he's been nothing but trouble these past few months,"

"Colonel?" the twins asked.

"Ed kun, Ed kun, you're in the military?" Hunny asked.

"Unfortunately…"

"You've finally found someone shorter than you, Fullmetal," Mustang whispered in German.

"Shut up,"

Understanding suddenly lit Tamaki's eyes, "Is this where you learnt how to fight?"

"You've been starting fights again?" Mustang asked pointedly.

"I didn't start anything!" Ed whined.

"Ed punched Tamaki senpai in the stomach…"

"...And the face…"

"…After Tamaki senpai called him short…"

"…He also fought Hunny senpai…"

"…And he won!" The twins filled in.

"Snitches!" Ed snapped at them.

Mustang glared at his subordinate, "You fought the kid that's half your size. Really, Ed, picking on children now?"

"Hunny's older than I am and Tamaki called me short and…" Ed attempted to defend himself, however Mustang wasn't buying it.

"But it all worked out, we're all friends now!" Al stepped in, saving his brother from Mustang's evil eye.

Riza looked to the younger Elric, "Alphonse, how are you? You look much healthier now,"

"It's slow, but I'm feeling much better,"

"Your recovery rate is remarkable, last time we saw you, you could barely walk 100 metres," Mustang noted, walking over to Al and picking up his arm, noting how thin his wrist was.

"It's about what should be expected with his high degree of atrophy," Ed commented, "He's been eating balanced meals, but he hasn't been eating more than a normal person, which I thought he might as part of the compensation for being so long in the Gate, it seems the effects were purely physical," also falling into an analytical mode.

"Um…" Al fidgeted as Mustang prodded at him while Ed stared contemplatively.

"Was Al sick?" Tamaki asked.

"I guess you could say that," Mustang replied.

"More like severely malnourished," Ed corrected.

"What, Ed didn't take care of his little brother properly?" Hikaru and Kaoru teased.

There was an odd sort of quiet from the German group.

"Yeah, that's it," Ed said softly.

"Ed –

"Brother –

Winry and Al began at the same time. But he shook his head and shot them a genuine smile, "But I've been looking after him properly since then," They both smiled back and nodded.

"I think it's time to continue with the schedule," Hawkeye said, interrupting them.

"I'll see you guys later," Ed said.

"It was good to see you again, Al, Winry and it was nice to meet you all," Mustang said, following Hawkeye out of the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>That night, Ed came home late and collapsed on the couch in his apartment. Winry, Al, Mei, Ran Fan and Ling were just finishing dinner. Mustang and Hawkeye came in to say a quick goodbye as they were returning to Amestris that night. They farewelled the group and remind Edward that he still had to submit a monthly report and to do it on time for once in his life.<p>

"How'd the rest of the day go, Ed?" Winry asked after Mustand and Hawkeye left.

"Rest of the day?" Ling asked.

"Oh, Ed stopped by the school with Mr Mustang and Miss Riza,"

"Does anyone at school know…about…you know?"

"The entire school knows you're the future Emperor, Ling," Al laughed.

"Damn. I guess this was inevitable,"

"Looks like you're going to have your work cut out for you, Ran Fan," Winry laughed.

"As long as master doesn't keep running off," Ran Fan said, shooting Ling a look.

"So how was it, Ed?" Ling asked.

"Urgh, if I ever see Mustang again, it will be too soon. 'This uniform is absolutely preposterous. It is an abomination to the educational system. The entire school should be ashamed'," Ed said, mimicking his superior when he had first laid eyes on the long yellow dresses the Ouran girls wore.

Al and Winry laughed.

"How were the Host Club after I left?" Ed asked yawning.

"They had so many questions after you left," Winry shook her head, "Kyoya interrogated us like criminals,"

"Hey, Ed," Ling began, but looked over to see the blonde was already snoring on the couch.

The others shared a smile; it was good to see some things never changed.

* * *

><p>And End Chapter 7.<p>

ERMAGOD DONE.

hope you guys liked that. it was a long time coming. i really hope it was worth the wait, let me know in your reviews whether i did a good job of that, any places that could have used improvements, any comments really. i love hearing your opinions. and if you say something i find really interesting or it inspires a chapter, i will dedicate that chapter to you. i love to answer questions so let loose with that! :D :D

:D laughing on the inside :D


	8. To Improve

A/N: EXAMS ARE OVER AND I GOT STRAIGHT HIGH DISTINCTIONS. WOOT. CELEBRATION TIME ~~! and because i want to share my happiness, i present to you, another chapter of A Time For Change! I am on a roll with this updating thing. well done me.

This chapter isn't as long as the others because I've had less time, but i hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

A couple of things;

First of all, please check out my profile if you're interested in my other stories and this story. I've decided to take down my previous one (which was an outdated list of "if you were a 90's kid you'd remember this). Now i shall be updating it with progress on my stories and possible future stories. I actually have a list of all the stories I've written/am in the process of writing. Please take a look if you like my writing style and feel free to PM me. I would love to discuss possible stories and iron out some plotlines if anyone wants to contact me.

Secondly are some replies to reviews;

Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail; Yeah, my timeline has issues, please don't look too in depth at it as it actually makes no sense, i prefer to just coast along and pretend that ages mean nothing. I apologise but there's no way for me to make their ages fit with my story. I hope you'll acept my most humble apologies.

A couple of people have said it was out of character for Tamaki to be so ruthless, and maybe it was a bit, but in my defence, love makes you do things you often wouldn't, and Tamaki realises this, which is why he reverts back to his normal self.

Lan Fan, Ran Fan, yeah, i think i goofed, but for the sake of continuity within my story, i shall be leaving it as Ran Fan, apologies.

Anyway, onto the fic; hope you enjoy :D

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 8: To Improve  
><em>

That night, Ed came home late and collapsed on the couch in his apartment. Winry, Al, Mei, Ran Fan and Ling were just finishing dinner. Mustang and Hawkeye came in to say a quick goodbye as they were returning to Amestris that night. They farewelled the group and reminded Edward that he still had to submit a monthly report and to do it on time for once in his life.

"How'd the rest of the day go, Ed?" Winry asked after Mustand and Hawkeye left.

"Rest of the day?" Ling asked.

"Oh, Ed stopped by the school with Mr Mustang and Miss Riza,"

"Does anyone at school know…about…you know?"

"The entire school knows you're the future Emperor, Ling," Al laughed.

"Damn. I guess this was inevitable,"

"Looks like you're going to have your work cut out for you, Ran Fan," Winry laughed.

"As long as master doesn't keep running off," Ran Fan said, shooting Ling a look.

"So how was it, Ed?" Ling asked after placating Ran Fan with a less than sincere reassurance.

"Urgh, if I never see Mustang again, it will be too soon. 'This uniform is absolutely preposterous. It is an abomination to the educational system. The entire school should be ashamed'," Ed said, mimicking his superior when he had first laid eyes on the long yellow dresses the Ouran girls wore.

Al and Winry laughed.

"How was the Host Club after I left?" Ed asked yawning.

"They had so many questions after you left," Winry shook her head, "Kyoya interrogated us like criminals,"

"Hey, Ed," Ling began, but looked over to see the blonde was already snoring on the couch.

The others shared a smile; it was good to see some things never changed.

* * *

><p>The next day was much less hectic than before, with the student body, as well as the teachers, starting to come to grips with the oddness of their new students. Lunch was the usual fare, with Al joining them as always.<p>

"Hey, Al," Ed greeted the younger Elric.

"Brother!" Ed took his seat next to Al and greeted the rest of the group, Winry had just gotten there, Mori and Hunny had arrived first and Kyoya and Tamaki were following Ed. "With all the military stuff that's been going on over the past few days, I keep forgetting to ask if I can have someone over to the apartment," Al said as they settled down with their food.

"New friend?"

"Uhh...sort of. I'm tutoring a guy in my class; Yasuchika…"

"You're Chika chan's tutor?" Hunny squealed, "Yay! This is going to be so fun! You can come to our house instead! I'll give you lots of cakes and sweets!"

"Yeah, let's all go to Hunny senpai's house!" Hikaru, Kaoru and Tamaki roared, "Play date!"

"Oh my god," Ed moaned and slapped his hand to his forehead.

"You're all coming this Saturday!" Hunny announced. Tamaki, Kaoru and Hikaru made frantic plans.

"Hey, where's Ling?" Kaoru asked in the middle of planning.

"Busy with his new duties. He'll be back tomorrow I think," Ed said.

"Duties?" both twins asked in stereo, with all the hype around Ed's military appearance, no one had informed the twins about Ling.

"Oh, we haven't told you the news, have we?" Tamaki asked; he had forgotten to call them that night.

"What news?!" the twins asked, their eyes sparkling at the promise of good gossip.

"Ling's going to be the next Emperor of Japan!"

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other with bored faces, "If you're going to make something up, Tamaki senpai, you should at least make it something believable,"

"It's true," Kyoya confirmed.

"So Ling's a prince and Ed's a soldier?" They asked slowly.

"I'm not a soldier, I was a state alchemist; passed the exam at twelve; youngest ever," Ed said proudly.

"Wow, Ed kun, that's amazing," Hunny complimented.

"God, don't inflate his ego any further, I'm begging you," Winry sighed.

"Please, like you don't have a massive ego too," Ed shot back.

"I do not-"

" 'Ed, I think you should pay double the amount, since you're getting the best automail in the world! Actually, I should triple the cost!'," Ed mimicked in German.

"You have the money to blow anyway! You and your rush jobs! I had to put aside all my other works and pull a week's worth of all nighters, just so you could go and blow up your arm and leg quicker! At least I only have one appendage to worry about now!" she muttered back, also in German.

"…we didn't understand any of that," Hikaru stated. Kyoya, however, was the top student in his German class and had filed the term "automail" away for later research.

"Yeah, well, all you need to know is that she is a freak," Ed pointed at Winry, who slapped his hand out of her face.

* * *

><p>The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, so they broke up and went to their respective classes, Al heading back to the middle school.<p>

As Al crossed the yard and passed through the fountained gardens he saw Mei on his way back, "Mei!"

"Alphonse sama!" She squealed and tackled him with a hug.

"Whoa," He laughed as he fell backwards with Mei still clinging to him.

"What are you doing, Alphonse sama?" Mei asked.

"I'm going to class, what were you doing?" He asked.

"I've joined the karate club!" she said happily.

"Really? When?"

"Two weeks ago, I told Winry, but I guess I forgot to tell you guys,"

"They let you join?"

"I had to beat the club president, which was a snap! Alphonse sama could beat him easily, too!"

"I don't think so, Mei, I haven't done much martial arts since getting my body back; brother yells at me if I over exert myself,"

"Edward's such a worrywort," Mei rolled her eyes, "But if you're not better you should definitely relax!"

"Actually, I think I'm ready to start training again,"

"Really? Cool!" Mei said ecstatically.

"But the bell's gone, I'll take you back to the elementary school, then we'll talk more at home, okay?"

"You're such a gentleman, Alphonse sama!" Mei squealed happily.

* * *

><p>"Mei chan, who was that?" the girls in her class asked her. They all stared dreamily after the tall, handsome blonde boy with honey coloured eyes who had dropped Mei off at the door of the classroom.<p>

"He's Alphonse sama," she announced proudly to her class mates.

"Ohh, the guy you said was like a prince!" one of the girls remembered.

"The guy you said you would marry when you grow up," another mentioned.

All of her classmates had heard her rants about how great Alphonse sama was. Most thought that she made it up or that she was grossly over exaggerating. They now realised that she wasn't.

"He is really cool!" they agreed.

"You can't steal him from me!" Mei cried, glaring at her friends.

"But Mei chan, don't you have Yasuchika san?"

"Who would want that ogre? He's like Ed, but a bad fighter and a lot stupider," She rolled her eyes as the girls began correcting her about why Yasuchika was so amazing. She ignored them and went back to daydreaming about Alphonse sama.

* * *

><p>The next day the gym was crowded, as it always was, during morning Karate practice. However, before-school training tended to be less popular than lunch time training and there were fewer girls crowding the doorways, swooning and giggling.<p>

"I think that you should just confess to her," Satoshi whispered to Chika, who promptly elbowed him in the gut. Satoshi stood next to his cousin watching the Karate club taking their five minute break, since there was no Kendo training in the morning.

"Back to training, now! I want one hundred one-armed push ups!" he shouted, while his club groaned. They began, knowing that they'd only have to do about twenty before the younger Morinozuka bashed the crap out of Chika with his sword.

"Hello!" a familiar voice called. Satoshi stopped bashing Chika up long enough to greet Mei. Mei didn't often turn up to morning trainings, saying that two of her guardians were stupid and lazy and that she often had to hit them on the head to wake them up and even on a good day, they were still ten minutes late.

"Hey, Mei, what're you doing here so early?"

"I took an earlier train today," She had a huge, dreamy grin on her face; last night, after she had told Alphonse about Karate training, he had offered to take her into school on an earlier train so that she could attend morning training, she was still giddy with joy at his kind offer and the fact that she got to spend twenty minutes alone with her prince.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at Mei's overly blissful expression, "You're really happy,"

"Of course I am, I got to take a train with Alphonse sama this morning and he's started martial arts training again!" After offering to take her into school, Al had told his brother he felt ready to get back into shape. Ed wasn't sure, but Al had reassured him, so they began. They sparred out in the carpark in front of the apartment complex; Ed went easy on Al and Ed had won. Al laughed about how it was the first time Ed had won without cheating. Ed, of course, debated that furiously.

"But, you're not too rusty, Al. It shouldn't take you too long to get back up to scratch,"

"I'll be back to beating you soon, big brother," he had grinned.

Mei had watched their fight and cheered for Alphonse. Ling arrived after the match, saying that he was going to resume going to school the next day.

"Who's this "Alphonse sama"?" Satoshi asked, breaking her out of her reminiscence.

"He's the best!" she began with sparkles in her eyes, "He's like a prince; he's the kindest, smartest, bravest, strongest guy in the whole world! He's my knight in shining armour!" Mei would have continued to rant, but she felt a dark aura coming from her left, "What's wrong with Chika?"

"Uh…nothing…he's probably just having a cramp, you know how he doesn't warm up properly sometimes…" Satoshi said, steering his friend off to the side, "I'm going to go talk to him, do you want to run some drills, Mei chan?"

"Sure," she agreed. Though she was the youngest, the smallest and the only girl, there was a lot of respect for Mei in the club and all of its members listened and performed the drills she set out eagerly.

"Stupid Satoshi!" he yelled when they were in one of the many workout rooms.

"Don't take you're anger out on me!" Satoshi squealed.

"I'm not angry! I told you I don't like her!" He yelled, attempting to punch his cousin.

"Then why are you trying to bash me up?" Satoshi asked, jumping around the room as Chika chased him, warily keeping Chika a sword's distance away from him.

"Because it's all your fault!" He shouted, misdirecting his rage, as per usual; if he didn't take it out on his club, he took it out on Satoshi.

"It's not my fault you like her!"  
>"I don't like her!"<p>

"Then why are you mad that she loves some guy called 'Alphonse sama'?"  
>"She doesn't love him!"<p>

"Whatever, but do you want to get her back?"

"She never liked me in the first place," He said calming down after circling the room a dozen times, chasing Satoshi, who was quite light on his feet.

"That's because you were mean; if we make you nice, she'll totally fall for you!"

"What about 'Alphonse sama'?"

"Please; he's probably some elementary school brat who sits in the dirt and can't tie his shoelaces,"

"You're right! I'm probably twenty times greater than this guy!"

Satoshi bashed him on the head with his sword, "Stop being so damn cocky!" he growled, "We need to work on that…And I know the perfect person to teach you!"

* * *

><p>Chika ended club activities early that morning, since Mei had thoroughly exhausted the club; she was fair, but strict and thorough. Satoshi followed Chika back to his classroom so that he could enact the first phase of the plan.<p>

"How weird is it that the guy we're going to for advice has the same name as you're arch nemesis?" Satoshi mused as they made their way down the hall.

"Firstly, this 'Alphonse sama' is not my arch nemesis; he's way too beneath me to compare," Satoshi threatened him with his kendo sword, which he was still carrying, so Chika hurried to his next point, "Secondly, 'Alphonse' is a pretty common name. I'm sure we have a few more in this school alone, since we're a very multi-cultural school,"

Satoshi frowned, then nodded in agreement; it was true; Ouran high was filled with lots of students from various backgrounds, many came from overseas just to get an education at Ouran, since it was such a prestigious school.

As they entered the classroom, they noticed it was pretty much empty, since it was still early, except for Al who sat next to a window. He had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply, a calm smile on his face as he savoured the sun on his skin and the slight, chilly breeze from the open window. Each breath he took was slow, deliberate as if he were drinking the air itself.

Neither Satoshi nor Chika wanted to be the first to break the tranquil moment, luckily, Al opened his eyes slowly and noticed them in the door way.

"Oh, hey Satoshi san, Yasuchika san," he said greeting them both with a smile.

"Hey, Al san, were you meditating?" Satoshi asked.

"Sort of," Al shrugged, slightly embarrassed, "I just like…feeling the world around me. It's something a lot of people take for granted,"

Satoshi smiled, "You're like a monk, Al san, you're always so calm and peaceful,"

Al blushed, "Uh, thanks, I think. And you can just call me 'Al',"

"Oh, then just call us Satoshi and Chika,"

Al nodded, "By the way, Chika, I saw your brother yesterday and…"

Chika paled, then frowned fiercely, "Don't talk about that creepy, good for nothing, cake eating-"

"You know Mitsukini san?" Satoshi asked, interrupting Chika's rant.

"Yeah, I go to the high school to have lunch with my brother and my friends,"

"Do you know Morinozuka Takeshi?"

"Yeah, wait. Are you guys related? You look alike,"

"Yeah, he's my brother! He's awesome, isn't he?!"

"Yeah, Mori senpai's really nice. He's very insightful,"

"Al, you're a good person," Satoshi said patting him on the back, happy to find another person who agreed upon his brother's greatness.

"Thanks…oh, by the way what I was going to say before was that your brother, Chika, asked me to come to your house this Saturday to tutor you,"

"You're getting tutored by Al?"

"None of your business!" Chika snapped, embarrassed that he needed tuition.

"Al, this is the problem; Chika's an antisocial ass sometimes and there's this girl that he likes," Chika practically tackled Satoshi, who promptly wrestled with him, then beat him up with his kendo sword, ordering him to stay quiet as he continued "And he needs help with his people-skills. Do you mind tutoring him in being a decent human being along with the chemistry?"

"Uh…sure?" Al said, thoroughly confused.

"Great! See, Chika, now you'll totally get your girl,"

"I'm going to kill you Satoshi,"

"Don't worry, Al, I'll come on Saturday, too!" Satoshi said with excitement.

"Who said you're invited?" Chika growled.

"We're cousins, I don't think uncle will mind me dropping by. So it's decided; this Saturday will be teach Chika manners-"

"And chemistry," Al piped in,

"…And chemistry day!"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 8<p>

Just FYI, it is actually canon that Kyoya is really good at German, how fortuitous is that?

The FMA crew at Hunny's house? Al tutoring Chika? What could possibly go wrong?

Anyway, if you have any questions, comments or you just want to spread the love, please leave a review. Reviews make me happy XD.

Also, please do check out my profile if you want to get some updates on the chapters and other fanfics i've posted/may possibly post in the future. Some are some really odd crossovers that you wouldn't think could possibly work out. If i get enough interest in them, i may post what i've written of them. feel free to PM me about them!

Hope you enjoyed that, stay tuned for the next episode!

Stay frosty, guys ;)

:D laughing on the inside :D


	9. Hangin' With The Haninozukas

A/N: omg, update within a month? What is happening? :P haha, it looks like i'm on track to finish this story by the end of the year. Unless I come up with a better ending than the one I have in mind and have to revise everything. What fun that would be. If you've got any ideas you'd like to see in an ending, let me know, i'm still in the process of writing it so it's pretty fluid at the moment.

I've been posting a lot this month because I was on holidays, so if you're interested, check out my other stories (I think they're awesome :D ). I'll give you more info at the bottom.

xo . skyla: wow, thank you for all the reviews! And reading through them, I have no doubt that you're going to enjoy how i progress the story!

live love laugh: the host club hasn't met Ran Fan because she shadows him but doesn't go to school. I make a very small mention about her in a future chapter somewhere, I think

Thank you to everyone else that reviewed! If you've asked a specific question and I haven't answered it, it might be because there's no way to answer it without revealing too much ;)

Don't judge me on the chapter title, by the way, i thought it was cool.

Anyway, Enjoy :D

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 9: Hangin' With The Haninozukas  
><em>

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because they invited us and Hunny senpai said that his father wanted to 'meet' you," Al told his brother patiently. Though he was almost certain that 'meet' in this context meant 'challenge to a spar'. It was a Saturday morning and the three of them were standing on a packed metro train, making their way to Hunny's house. Ed was dressed in his usual black attire, swapping his travel cloak for a red hoodie instead. Al wore a long-sleeved white shirt and brown slacks while Ling wore a white jacket and loose fitting beige pants.

"I met enough arrogant bastards back in Amestris," Ed moaned,

"You shouldn't judge him already, big brother, after all, he's Hunny's father,"

"I still don't want to go; those Host Club guys are annoyingly loud,"

"Too bad, we have to go; we already accepted their invitation,"

"Why am I going? I didn't accept it," Ling interjected with the same whiny-tone that Ed was using. He hadn't even been there when the group was invited!

"We accepted on your behalf,"

"Winry doesn't have to go," Ed pointed out petulantly.

"She's going with Haruhi and Mei to the zoo. Mei's been wanting to visit the zoo since we arrived,"

"I'd rather go to the zoo; at least the animals act more civilised," Ed snorted.

"Like you're one to talk," Ling grinned. Ed made a rude gesture to Ling who snorted and pulled a childish face. The two were shot multiple sets of disapproving glares from the other commuters.

"This is going to be stupid," Ed cursed to himself.

* * *

><p>Tamaki arrived at Hunny's house early. He was led to Hunny's room, where Hunny and Mori were setting out a grand tea party for them. He offered to give them a hand and began helping arrange flowers in crystal vases. He frowned slightly as he remembered how his morning had begun. As soon as he had woken up, he had invited Haruhi to come with him to visit Hunny, but she had said that she had other plans with her new friends.<p>

"Who are you're new friends? Are they nice? Are there any guys picking on my precious daughter? I'm coming over to beat them up right now!" Tamaki had yelled down the phone line.

"I think that you should calm down Tamaki senpai; my friends and I are just going to the zoo. One is the same age as me and _she _is very kind. The other _girl_ is _eleven_ and she's not picking on me either," Haruhi had said, sarcastically, though she chose to refrain from telling him about her other friends, Al, Ed and Ling, since she knew he would blow a gasket.

"Tama chan! Come see these amazing cakes!" Hunny cheered and dragged Tamaki to a table, where he pointed out the various sweets. Tamaki nodded and smiled, but without his usual zeal. He was lost in thought; since it would soon be the Mid-Year Exams.

Mid-Year Exams meant that Haruhi could try to win back her scholarship. He desperately wanted Haruhi back, but he wondered if that meant that Winry would leave. He knew Winry was a commoner so there was no way she could afford the tuition at Ouran. But if Winry left, did that mean Ed, Al and Ling would leave too? He had to admit that the odd group were growing on him and he was beginning to really appreciate their good sides.

Winry was very bright and understanding, Al was kind and compassionate, Ling was fun and Ed wad downright hilarious. He loved to pick on Ed, since he seemed to have a bottomless source of energy and never seemed to run out of steam. And he had to admit, he had finally begun to see that Ed, was indeed, a genius. He had watched him in class; the blonde _never_ paid attention; he was always doodling away in his notebook. Tamaki even distracted him, a lot, and yet he still remained top of the class. This bugged Kyoya to no end, though, since he had always been the perfect student. However, even Kyoya had also confided to Tamaki that he was beginning to see Ed as a very powerful, potential, ally. He'd done some research on 'Edward Elric of Amestris' and had come up with quite a lot; it seemed as though "The Alchemist of the People" was quite famous in his home country as well as loved by its citizens. He was practically a folk hero. However most of the information that was not in a news article was confidential or restricted government information, and no matter how tempted Kyoya was to hack into the German secret personnel files, he had controlled himself.

Tamaki heard the doorbell ring; the twins and Kyoya had arrived, along with the Elrics and Ling.

"Hi guys!" Hunny greeted them, bouncing up and down, "I just finished setting out the cakes!"

"Yay…" Ed groaned. While he liked cake as much as the next person, he didn't want to spend the day in a mock tea party; he was not a five year old girl, "Al…"

"Thanks Hunny senpai, we'd love to have some of your cake,"

"Dammit," Ed muttered.

"I invited Chika chan too…but…" Hunny's expression went cloudy and he stared off into the distance, small stars drifting across his vision.

"Is he okay?" Ed asked, cocking an eyebrow at Hunny's dazed expression.

"He's fine," Kaoru said, waving off Ed's concern.

"Probably just imagining a happy future for Chika chan," Hikaru informed them.

"Does this happen often?"

"All the time!" Kaoru grinned.

"Does Hunny…" Ling was interrupted by the loud voice of Satoshi.

"Chika hurry up! We're late for the tea party!"

"I already said I'm not going to any damn tea party; it's so girly!" Chika yelled. Ed silently agreed.

"Shut up! You're brother invited you and you have to accept it! It's polite! Right, Al?" Satoshi asked, looking to the younger Elric as the duo skidded into the foyer.

"Yup; it's good manners to accept invitations graciously, right brother?" Al looked to Ed, a murderous smile on his face.

" 'Course! It would be so horrendously impolite not to! Gosh, I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to be here!" Ed grinned, happy to see that others were suffering too.

"See!" Satoshi smirked triumphantly, the sarcasm completely lost on him. Hunny led them down the traditional Japanese styled hallway and threw open a large set of ornately carved double-doors, revealing a room that was much too pink and filled with too many stuffed toys for Ed's liking. There was one large Victorian-styled round table set up in the centre of the room, decorated with white table cloth, flowers, doilies and all. The Elrics and Ling were surprised; the room very out of place in the traditional Japanese styled compound. Hunny guided them to their chairs and they all took a seat and began on the sweets. The twins, of course, had packed their knapsacks full of crap and had started discretely "spicing up" the various snacks. Satoshi praised all of the food with his usual exuberance.

Chika took his seat, pouting unhappily at the cake.

"Chika, you need to smile pleasantly and thank your brother for the cake," Satoshi prompted, elbowing his cousin in the ribs.

"Go to hell!" Chika snapped, prodding the cake with his fork, but refusing to eat it.

"Yasuchika!" Satoshi growled, threateningly.

"Do we seem to be missing something, Kaoru?" Hikaru looked to his brother and nodded towards Satoshi who had been growling instructions to the younger Haninozuka all morning.

"I think we are, Hikaru,"

"Satoshi seems to be much stricter than normal,"

"I wonder why…" Identical Cheshire-cat grins spread over their face.

"Hey, Chika chan, is there something you want to tell us?" Hikaru asked, pinning the boy with his most harmless smile.

"It's none of your business!" Chika frowned.

"Chika!" Satoshi snarled and bashed him on the head with his fist.

"God, you're so mean to me, Satoshi! I hate you!" Chika said bursting into tears causing the club members to envision baby chicks and full bloom flowers surrounding the young boy. It once again confirmed to Tamaki that Chika had a lot of potential as a host.

"You're such a wuss," Ed muttered, rolling his eyes and breaking the club members out of their rose coloured reverie.

"I'm not a wuss!" Yasuchika yelled, jumping up from his seat.

"You're crying!" Ed reasoned.

"Brother!" Al admonished.

"What?"

"The guy is a bit of a wuss…" Ling agreed.

"Ling!"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not a wuss! I could kick your ass!"

"Hah! You wish!"

Chika jumped over the table and leapt at Ed who caught his foot deftly and threw him easily over his shoulder and into a pile of stuffed toys. Chika snarled and jumped back to his feet, preparing to charge the elder Elric.

"Isn't life so much more fun when Ed's around?" Hikaru asked leaning back in his chair, not the least bit sarcastic.

"Brother, don't fight him!" Al pleaded.

"YASUSCHIKA! Don't attack you're elders!" Satoshi yelled, grabbing the boy by the collar as he prepared to jump at Ed again.

"Yeah, twerp, learn some manners," Ed smirked, folding his arms easily over his chest as he relaxed into his chair.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Chika raged, attempting to claw his way out of Satoshi's choke hold.

"Brother, stop provoking him!" Al warned.

"Can I?" Ling asked.

"Don't even start!" Al shot a glare at him.

"Mind your manners, Chika, or she'll never like you!" Satoshi yelled as he tried to headlock Chika into submission.

"WHAT?!" Tamaki, Hunny, Kaoru and Hikaru yelled. Mori's eyes widened and Kyoya nearly fell off his chair.

"Chika likes someone?!" Hunny very nearly fainted.

"WHO? WHO? WHO? WHO?!" Hikaru and Kaoru asked, rabid grins on their faces.

"Satoshi I swear to god, if you tell them I'll kill you then shove your corpse down a sewer!" Chika yelled, managing to reverse their positions so that he was throttling his cousin.

"I swear I won't tell!" Satoshi gurgled as Chika choked the life out of him.

"Chika chan! You have to tell us!" Tamaki encouraged.

"No way! I don't like her anyway!"

"He likes her; she doesn't like him though, 'cause of his bad manners," Satoshi supplied. Chika redoubled his efforts to kill the poor boy.

"I announce the host club's new project; Turn Chika Into The Perfect Gentleman!" Tamaki said dramatically. Kyoya sighed, as did Mori, but Hunny and the twins were delighted.

"Shit," Chika muttered.

* * *

><p>"…so yeah. We didn't actually get to do any chemistry," Al told Winry when they got home.<p>

"Sounds like fun; aren't you glad you went, Ed?" Winry asked with bemusement.

"No. I had to meet Hunny's dad and he was, like, massive! Think Armstrong on steroids! I can't believe how short Hunny is compared to his father!" Ed ignored the giggles and laughs from Winry and Al, "He actually challenged me to a spar! Thank God Hunny's mum told him off! No shit it's rude to fight a guest!" Ed ranted, "God, I'd rather have gone to the zoo. Did Mei enjoy it?"

"Yeah, she loved it. She dragged Haruhi to the panda exhibit and they're probably still there,"

"Sucks that you had to leave early,"

"Yeah, this stupid project is such a nightmare!" Winry muttered as she finally completed her geography poster, accompanied by a speech, powerpoint and essay. She had profusely apologised to Haruhi and Mei, telling them that she had to leave early do her homework. Both of them were very understanding and said they'd bring her back a souvenir.

"We can all go again one day," Winry suggested.

"Sure; better than another day at Hunny's place,"

"It wasn't that bad, brother,"

"I didn't enjoy spending four hours listening to Tamaki rant about how to 'woo a woman and win her heart'," Ed quoted, verbatim.

"But it was fun, right?"

"Between the endless dribble of nonsense that spewed from Tamaki's mouth and the bouts of near food poisoning from the twins, I guess it was tolerable," Ed admitted.

"Don't worry, I planted some crap in the twins' food, too. They should be getting some pretty traumatic stomach sickness tomorrow," Ling grinned. Ed stared at him, then burst out laughing.

"I knew I hung out with you for a reason!" Ed laughed as they high fived.

* * *

><p>Ed and Ling were woken early the next day, Sunday, by a nasty phone call from the twins, who claimed that 'it was on'. They hurled a few times in the period of that two minute phone call making disgusting retching noises and not bothering to cover the speaking piece on the phone.<p>

"Jeez, Ling, what did you stick in their food?" Al asked, cringing as he poured out coffee for Ed and Ling.

"Some colourful powders I found while travelling. Dude assured me that it wasn't 'poisonous' in the traditional sense,"

After that bout of unpleasantness, Ed and Ling ate a large breakfast, their appetite not at all affected by the twins, and dropped by Winry and Mei's place. Once the group was assembled, they proceeded along the balcony to Haruhi's place. The five of them stood in Haruhi's doorway asking if she wanted to hang out.

"Actually, guys, I need to study for the Mid-Years,"

"Really? We'll study with you," Ed and Winry offered. Ling and Mei didn't need to do well as they did not need a scholarship; their education was free, since they were part of the royal family. Al was easily the best in his year, so getting his fitness back to normal was more appealing to him. Ed and Winry, however needed to do well on the Mid-Year Exams. Ouran had an odd scholarship system in which the special scholarship was not annual, but half-yearly. Every semester, high school students from across the nation were able to sit the Ouran Mid-Years and whoever had the highest aggregate for each year from across the five subjects (Math, General Science, Social Studies, English and Japanese Language) would be offered the scholarship. Therefore, Winry and Ed brought their textbooks over to Haruhi's apartment while Al, Mei and Ling went out to the car park, Ran Fan leaping easily down from the shadowy branches a tree to join her master and friends.

* * *

><p>"Hmmm…" Haruhi muttered as they all sat around her coffee table, books spread around them.<p>

"What's wrong Haruhi?"

"I don't get why this element reacts with this one instead of this one," Haruhi said pointing to a Lewis diagram of a molecule in her chemistry text.

"It's 'cause chlorine's a good leaving group, falls off, the carbon becomes positive, because it's missing an electron, and the oxygen attacks it with its lone pairs," Ed informed her, only flicking his eyes off of his own book for a brief moment.

Haruhi looked impressed, "Wow, Ed, you really are smart. You kept bragging, but I didn't believe you,"

Ed twitched, "Are you ever not brutally honest?"

Haruhi gave a shrug. Haruhi asked a few more questions that had been bugging her, but she hadn't gotten around to researching. Ed answered all of them easily.

"Seriously, Ed, how do you know all of this?" Winry asked mildly surprised at Ed's well rounded knowledge; she had assumed that he would only excel in the Sciences, but was surprisingly good at all subjects.

"When I was searching for the stone, Al and I practically ransacked the State Library. There's a lot of books in there. A lot. And even Al and I get bored looking at the same topic for three weeks straight. I've read at least six different sets of encyclopedias just because I couldn't stand researching the stone anymore,"

"You should just go take a walk, jeez, Ed," Winry laughed.

"I needed to make the most of my time in the libraries. Never know when Mustang will send me on another bullshit adventure," Ed muttered.

"What was it like being part of the military, Ed?" Haruhi asked.

"Pain in the ass. Worst job ever," Ed said, though he only half meant it.

"Why did you join, then?"

"…The military supplies its officers with resources that aren't normally available to civilians. I needed those resources. And it pays well," Ed smiled weakly.

Haruhi nodded and left it at that, knowing not to push for anymore.

Winry was about to add something when she heard her mobile ring. She reached into her pocket and answered it,

"Y'ello?" she asked in a very undignified manner.

Ed and Haruhi paid her little attention until they heard a small gasp. Ed looked up, Winry had covered her mouth and tears were welling up in her eyes.  
>"Winry?" They both asked, but she ignored them.<p>

"When? Is she okay?" She asked. There was more silence.

"Please, let me talk to her," she said softly. Winry lowered the phone slightly. She set it to speaker-phone and looked at Ed, who was staring at her with concern.

"It's Granny, she slipped while she was in town and she broke her hip. She has to go for surgery to fix it,"

"Is she going to be alright? When did this happen? Did she injure anything else? What –

Ed's string of questions were cut off by a voice on the phone.

"Winry?" the voice asked.

"Granny!" Winry gasped.

"Granny Pinako!" Ed yelled too.

"Ah, good to hear you child. And you too Ed,"

"Are you okay, Granny? George from next door told me you broke your hip? Where are you? Are you okay?" Winry asked frantically.

"Calm down, child; I'm fine. That George sure knows how to run his mouth," Granny Pinako cursed, "I didn't want to worry you. I've just slipped a bit, I'm fine. Be right in a couple of days,"

"Tough as a mule," Ed snorted, but was relieved to hear Granny Pinako's voice.

Winry glared at her phone, "George said you broke a hip. You will not be right in a couple of days, Granny, you need to have surgery! You and I both know that!" Winry knew she didn't have to remind her grandmother; she was a qualified surgeon after all.

"Child," Pinako began but Winry cut her off.

"I know you don't want to have this operation because you think you can't afford it, but I will pay for it," Winry said. Her grandmother had very little money because, though being a surgeon and an automail specialist would normally mean wealth and more money than most people knew what to do with, Winry knew that her grandmother often worked for free or for the cost of materials. She rarely accepted anything more than some home-grown apples or a day's worth of labour fixing the roof from the people of Risembool because she knew that was all they could afford.

"Winry," Pinako began, but she knew there was no other realistic option. Pinako knew she needed the surgery, or risk being wheel chair bound or worse, "How will you pay your tuition child?"

"I've got a scholarship, Granny, and I won't need to pay for it because I'll be coming home," Winry announced.

"Absolutely not," Pinako's voice had shifted from consent to utter steel, "You will not come home. You will stay where you are and enjoy travelling the world and making memories with your friends,"

"But Granny,"

"Winry," Pinako's voice softened, "You've had to grow up too fast. You have always been there for me, taking on challenges and assisting me in surgeries that even fully grown adults would faint at the sight of. You were strong and tough and you were robbed of a proper childhood. You barely finished primary school. It is almost too much to bare that you are using your life savings to pay for my operation, don't let me live with the guilt of depriving you of a proper high school experience too,"

Winry's tears began to fall, "But Granny, I want to be there for you. I want to take care of you,"

"Child, your concern is more than enough. Anyway, I'll have nosy neighbours to take care of me anyway, ain't that right, George?" Pinako called.

"Your Granny gave me back my legs," a voice hollered in reply, :"This farm wouldn't be here without her. She'll be living with me until she can dance a jig and run a marathon, count on me for that!"

"See, Winry? I'll be absolutely fine. You stay where you are and you enjoy your time in Japan,"

"Thank you, Granny," Winry said, sniffling.

"And Ed?"

"Yeah, Granny?"

"You take care of my granddaughter or I'll pray to the Gods that you don't grow another inch, you midget!"

"Of course I will, you diminutive hag!" Ed grunted, but there was a smile tugging on the corner of his lip.

Both the Amestrians farewelled Winry's Granny, Winry promising to call that night to make arrangements.

Haruhi, who had been politely silent throughout the conversation, asked if everything was alright. She hadn't understood, since most of it took place in German. Winry explained the situation to Haruhi, who gave Winry her sympathy.

"Ah, it's okay," Winry said with a small smile, "My grandmother always claims she's healthy as an ox. She'll be absolutely fine," she said resolutely.

They continued with their study until dinner time, then they all went back to Winry's apartment for dinner. Winry and Haruhi cooked for everyone, including Haruhi's dad, who was always hungry after a long night's work. Over dinner, Winry explained to Al, Ling and Mei about the phone call she'd received and Granny Pinako's condition. The three were sympathetic, especially Al who insisted on calling Pinako when they had finished up to make sure she was okay.

The rest of the night consisted of the usual banter and eventually, the group went back to their respective apartments to prepare for the week ahead.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 9<p>

Awesome, okay, so next chapter will be quite long, I think, as it's the conclusion to the ChikaxMeixAl arc :O

Look forward to that. There'll be drama, there'll be angst and most of all, a little character development. (and my usual brand of odd comedy)

If you're into FMA CROSSOVERS, I have a new story up that will be a collection of various crossovers that I've written. First up is a HARRY POTTER X FMA CROSSOVER. (next might be a D . Grayman crossover or possibly a shugo chara crossover. They're both written, just undecided which i'll post first)

I've also got a Cardcaptor Sakura x Gakuen Alice crossover if you're into that. It's going to be short, about 3 chapters long, but it's got adventure, laughs and some sweet bits.

Finally, the story I'm most interested in getting people to read is my **KUROKO NO BASUKE** one shot. If there are any KnB fans in my readership, please check out that story. It's a complete change of pace from all my other stories; it's a tragedy. Please let me know if I've missed my calling as a tragedy writer or if i should stick to the comedy/adventure category. also, if you read it, let me know if i managed to make you cry. that was the goal. I'm apparently, not a very nice person.

Anyway, that's all from me. If you liked this chapter, let me know in a review and if you have any other comments, please let me know those too!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	10. Greener Grass

A/N: I'm getting good on this updating thing (ignore my other stories)

Okayyyy so let me explain a couple things right off the bat; first of all thank you to the peole who reviewed! I appreciate it!

Secondly, I got a review saying that it's odd that none of the FMA crew have figured out about Haruhi from Ouran and Haruhi from next door are the same person. I have written an entire essay worth of rebuttal as to why it makes perfect sense. Thank you to Honestly who also took the time to help me explain my point, it was appreciated. It's quite a long explanation so i've tacked it onto the end of this chapter so that those of you who aren't interested can skip over it. If you are interested, please feel free to stick around at the end and have a little looksie.

Umm what else. Oh this is pretty much the conclusion to the Chika-Mei-Al arc. So I hope you guys will enjoy it.

* * *

><p><strong>A Time For Change<strong>

_Chapter 10: Greener Grass  
><em>

Al stood in the carpark, doing various stretches and taking deep breaths. He bowed to Mei and she bowed back. He took a stance, then, with a nod, Mei rushed him. She jumped up and aimed a kick at his head, which he ducked under. She landed gracefully behind him, then swept her leg out, but Al hopped over her foot and flipped backwards. Mei pursued, leaping after him and aiming a punch to his stomach, which he caught. He used her momentum to swing them both, released her fist and she stumbled slightly, but regained her balance quickly and ducked under a roundhouse kick from Al. She twisted herself and grabbed Al's foot, spinning him and causing him to land heavily on the tarmac.

"Ouch," Al winced and sat up, "Good fight, Mei. I think I still have a way to go,"

"Sorry, Alphonse sama! But you're getting really good really quick!" Mei helped him up and he accepted her hand.

"Thanks, Mei, you're a great teacher," Al said with a chuckle.

"You up for a match against me?" Ling asked as he began stretching his arms and legs. He had alternated between watching Al spar and doing drills with Ran Fan.

"Sure," Al said, though he was pretty tired. He fought Ling, but it didn't last very long.

"Your reflexes are all there," Ling commented.

Al nodded, "I can feel it. All those years of training and the instincts are still fresh. I can see a punch or a kick coming, I just feel so sluggish,"

"I think we need to build up your stamina," Ling paused for a minute then, "I've got an idea,"

* * *

><p>"Ready, Al?" Ed asked.<p>

"Ready," Al nodded.

"On three," Ling said, "One…two…"

Ed had already taken off. He dashed down the street and across the road, Ling and Al following hot on his heels. They had gotten up about half an hour earlier than normal to run to school, instead of taking the train. It was about 20 kilometres to Ouran highschool, which meant about three hours at a jogging pace. The three of them sprinted down the streets, hoping to make it in less than an hour or they'd be late. The roads were still quite busy, even at this early hour as they scaled walls and fences to make their route shorter. Ed led the way for most of the race, battling it out with Ling, but in the final stretch, as Ling and Ed attempted to trip each other up, Al made a dash for the school and managed to overtake the two stumbling idiots.

"Why can't I ever win?" Ed asked, between deep, puffing breaths.

" 'Cuz you suck," Ling joked.

"Hey! I beat you here,"

"As if; I touched the sign before you!"

"I was through the gate before you!"

They argued all the way to homeroom, waving a goodbye to Al when he left to the middle school.

"Hey, guys, how was the run?" Winry asked when she passed them in the hall.

"I came second!" Ed said triumphantly.

"You came last!" Ling shouted for the fourth time.

Winry could see where this was going and warned them that if they said one more word, she'd hire a taxi to run them over next time. Winry sent them one more warning glare and left.

"Hey, Ed," Tamaki shouted enthusiastically when Ed entered the classroom and collapsed into his seat, dropping his bag on the floor and loosening his tie.

"You look tired,"

"I just ran here, so yeah. I'm tired," Ed said as he rocked back in his chair, balancing precariously as he pulled on the collar of his shirt.

"Why'd you run here?"

"We're getting Al back into shape,"

"Is that a commoner thing? Why don't you just buy a treadmill?"

"What a waste of money; the world is my treadmill,"

"Edward, I hope you don't find this an intrusive question, but does being a state alchemist pay well?" Kyoya asked, of course he had already researched the question to find out exactly what sort of person he was dealing with. Money was power after all. He hadn't found much, though, since the salary of Germany's secret weapons was not the kind of thing that was advertised on the national homepage.

"Nah, I don't mind. The pay isn't that great, but the research grant is enormous. It's a lot more than anyone would ever need and it's given annually. I didn't really use much of it, so I've got a lot saved up. As a colonel, but not state alchemist, I get about the same pay, mostly 'cause Mustang pulled a few strings,"

"You're not a state alchemist anymore?" Tamaki asked.

"No. Things happened so…yeah,"

They hushed as the teacher walked in, "Class, I hope you're studying hard for your mid-years. They're approaching fast and some of you need to bring up your grades," the teacher glared at a select few in their class.

"Hey, Ed, are you studying?"

"Yeah, a bit, I guess," He had gotten into the habit of studying with Haruhi and Winry during the evenings.

"Do you want to study with us?"

"…I don't think I'd end up studying very much," Ed rolled his eyes, "Remember Chika's tutoring session with Al and how helpful that was?"

"Ah! That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about! Can you think up a plan to get Chika together with the mystery girl?"

"You really don't think I have anything better to do?"

"Come on~!" Tamaki whined.

"No way! What makes you think I could even do that sort of thing?!"

"You're a lady killer!" Tamaki said.

"As if! I'm totally not!"

"Can't you see how popular you are?" Tamaki gestured discretely for him to look around. Ed swivelled in his chair to face the classroom, and sure enough, half of the girls were staring dreamily at him, little love hearts in their eyes.

"They're just curious 'cause you're making too much noise," Ed muttered, slightly embarrassed, then, with his usual vigour; "Anyway, I don't care; I think he made it clear that he didn't want you guys meddling with his affairs,"

"Sure he does; he just doesn't realise it yet!" Tamaki grinned.

"You're an idiot,"

* * *

><p>Eventually lunch came and went. After the rest had already departed for class, Ed pulled Al over to the side, "After that fail of a tuition session, I think it would be smarter if Chika came to our apartment this Saturday,"<p>

"Sure, big brother,"

"Make sure the Host Club doesn't find out, though, or it'll turn into a massive mess," Ed warned.

Al nodded, then waved goodbye to his brother. He made his way to the middle school and was almost late for class. He found Chika was already in the room and glaring at a classmate, growling at him to stop talking about Hunny in his presence. Al, smiling diplomatically, interrupted Chika and his victim. The other boy slinked off gratefully. He told Chika that he should come to his apartment for tuition, if he was okay with that. He didn't have to warn him about telling the host club, though, because he knew Chika would rather die than have a repeat of Saturday.

* * *

><p>Tamaki sat next to Kyoya in the club room. They had finished for the day and the others had packed away that afternoon's theme (beach party) and long since left. Kyoya was finishing the finances for the month and doing a little club related research.<p>

It was quiet.

"Hey, Kyoya?" Tamaki asked.

"What?" Kyoya responded, not looking up from his work.

"What are we going to do about Haruhi and the scholarship?"

Kyoya paused for a moment. Still without looking up, he shrugged and continued his typing, "I thought you'd given up on her,"

Tamaki frowned, "I will never give up on my precious daughter,"

Kyoya couldn't help the sarcastic smile that tugged on his lip, " 'daughter'," he repeated with a snort.

Tamaki ignored him, "Maybe we could get Ed to tutor her,"

"We already tried to get her tutors; she said 'no',"

"Yeah, but maybe that was because she didn't want us hiring the tutors. If we just so _happened_ to come over to study and had a really smart friend who _happened_ to be good at everything then maybe she might _happen_ to ask him questions," Tamaki said, getting more excited with the prospect of his idea.

"What makes you think you can convince Edward to follow you to a stranger's house and teach them anything? I'm sure you've noticed he's not exactly patient,"

Tamaki opened his mouth to protest, but could come up with little.

"Maybe we could ask Winry to give the scholarship to Haruhi and we could pay for Winry's tuition?" Tamaki knew even before he voiced it that this would never work.

"Besides the fact that I doubt either of our parents would be happy financing that, Winry's just as strong headed and independent as Haruhi is; she'd never accept it," Kyoya said. Suddenly his laptop made a "ding" sound and a smile edged its way onto his face.

"What was that?" Tamaki asked, looking over Kyoya's shoulder as he began to type frantically. He caught the words "new sources of revenue" before Kyoya shooed him away. He told him he had important work to do and to go home and come up with his own hair-brained schemes somewhere else. Tamaki noticed the almost manic grin on Kyoya's face. Tamaki knew what that meant; some sort of ingenious, possibly evil, plot was hatching. Tamaki sighed and left for home; he knew Kyoya would be there for at least a couple of hours more, obsessively planning and scheming until every facet of his idea was perfect.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the week, Al, Ling and Ed jogged to school. Al also continued to practice his martial arts after school with them, along with Mei and, occasionally, Ran Fan. He was getting much faster and falling back into his familiar patterns; he was almost at the point of beating Ed and could last a decent amount of time against Ran Fan and Mei. When Ed wasn't training with his brother, he was practicing his Alkhestry or studying with Haruhi and Winry. As the week drew to a close, Al finally won his first match against Ed. Ed promptly decided that it was time to start cheating again. They were now exactly three weeks away from mid-years.<p>

Chika arrived early on Saturday morning and found the apartment block. He double checked the door number on the piece of scap paper he'd scribbled the Elric's address upon. He snorted in amusement at the name plaque; engraved neatly in English lettering was "Elric" but scrawled messily under that, in permanent marker, read; "and Ling". Chika knocked hesitantly; it was his first time visiting an apartment block. While he didn't share Tamaki's outrageous love of commoners, he had to admit he was curious. Ed opened the door and stared for a full minute at Chika before registering his face and letting him in. Ed made his way slowly to the counter and slumped into a chair allowing his head to fall forward and thump noisily onto the table. Apparently, he was not a morning person.

"Uh... Ed san, where's Al?" Chika asked after a long minute of silence was broken by the beeping coffee pot. Ed poured a cup and offered it to Chika who refused politely.

"He's probably in his room or something," Ed mumbled downing the coffee, "Al!" He yelled.

"Shut up, Ed!" Ling yelled back without missing a beat.

"It's my apartment!" Ed yelled louder.

"Brother, there's no need to shout so early in the morning," Al said as he opened his door. He was fully dressed for the day, his hair was neat and he didn't look half as tired as his brother, who was still dressed in sleeping clothes, but, oddly, wearing shoes.

"Whatever," Ed muttered, "I'm going back to sleep," Ed made his way back to his room and slammed the door.

"Sorry about Brother. He's not much of a morning person," Al chuckled.

"That's fine. My brother's worse,"

"Really? Hunny doesn't seem like it," Al noted in surprise.

"He goes freaking psycho if you wake him up. Seriously, don't ever try it," Chika shuddered.

"Noted," Al laughed and pulled out his books. He began by reading Chika's notes and asking him where he was having the most trouble. After two hours, Chika's brain was pulsing, but he could feel Al's words clearing the fog that was Chemistry. He explained it all simply and logically, the principles and the mechanics behind each reaction began to make sense and he was amazed at how easy it all seemed once Al had explained it to him.

They were interrupted by a ringing.

"Oh, sorry, Al," Chika said pulling out his cell phone. He checked the caller ID. It was Satoshi. Chika debated over picking it up.

"Who is it?"

"Satoshi,"

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"He's gonna bug me about where I am and I'm gonna have to tell him I'm here, then he's gonna want to come over…"

"That's fine, you can invite him over if you want,"

"But-"

"Someone pick up the goddamn phone!" Ed and Ling both yelled at the same time from their rooms. That settled the matter and Chika picked up. He was right about Satoshi begging to come over and he told him the address.

"Well, I guess that's probably enough study for today anyway. Was it helpful?"

"Yeah, it was, actually. I think I can probably ace the mid-years," Chika said with confidence. They chatted for a while until Satoshi busted through the door that Ed had forgotten to lock.

"Al! Chika! Sup? I brought fruit!" Satoshi grinned broadly. It was nearly eleven when he arrived. Al accepted the fruit with a gracious smile.

"Did Chika bring anything?" Satoshi asked suspiciously.

"Uh…I forgot," Chika said, remembering the cake he had left on the table. He had planned on stealing it from his brother; it was a win-win situation.

"God, Chika! This is why I said you have no manners!" Satoshi bemoaned loudly. Ling and Ed came out of their respective rooms at the same time, both glaring at Satoshi, who waved at them enthusiastically. Ling was dressed in normal clothes and his hair was neat enough, but it was obvious that he had just rolled out of bed. Ed's hair was in shambles and he was dressed in his black tank top and jeans.

"What the hell?" he asked, looking at Al and gesturing toward Satoshi.

"Hi, Edward san! I brought a fruit!" Satoshi said, showing him the melon with starry-eyed grin.

"Great…" Ed drawled, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to help Chika with his girl problems,"

"Again? Didn't we spend last weekend doing that?"

"Chika still needs the practice! Do you know how bad mannered he is?"

"Whatever," Ed muttered, "I'm going over to Winry's. Maybe I can catch some sleep there," Ed sent a pointed glare at Satoshi and walked out.

"Who's Winry?" Satoshi asked missing the glare.

"Isn't she the girl that has Haruhi's scholarship?" Chika asked. They hadn't met Winry, but they'd heard a lot about her and the whole 'Haruhi' fiasco.

"Yeah, she's our friend. She lives next door,"

"Who is Haruhi, anyway?" Al asked. He had to admit, though he knew the general story, he didn't know anything about the person; it was still pretty taboo.

"He's just a guy that was part of the host club. He was pretty nice," Chika said, remembering their brief encounter.

"He was really smart and the whole club doted on him," Satoshi added, "Anyway, back to Chika's girl problems…"

Ling took a seat next to Al and drank his coffee, adding the occasional snide comment or sarcastic quip every so often.

* * *

><p>"Winry, open up," Ed said banging on the door.<p>

"Ed, what's wrong with you?" Winry asked pulling the door open. She took in Ed's dishevelled appearance.

"Al's stupid friends Chika and Satoshi are over and they're loud. Can I sleep here?"

"Sure, you can have the couch if you want," Winry said. She led Ed inside and he crashed on the couch, groaning as he felt a screwdriver dig into his back. He spent five minutes clearing the couch of pointy metal objects before he could fall asleep.

Mei bounded into the room a few minutes later.

"What's wrong with Ed?" She asked.

"He can't sleep because Al's friends Chika and Satoshi are over at his apartment,"

"Really? Chika and Satoshi are here?" She asked as she accepted the slice of toast Winry offered.

"Yeah, do you know them?"

Mei nodded, "I joined the karate club and met them when I was looking for Alphonse sama in the middle school,"

"What a coincidence. Do you want to go over and hang out with them?"

"I'll probably go over after I eat," Mei said. She chatted with Winry for a bit. She loved hanging out with Winry because she was like an older sister to her. Mei really looked up to the blonde girl. She respected her intelligence and her independence. She also admired her passion for automail. Then she paused in between bites; if she married Alphonse sama and Winry married Ed then they'd be real sisters! Mei's eyes lit up ecstatically. She grinned a bubbly smile. (LINK TO A PICTURE ON MY PROFILE)

"Thanks for the toast, Winry. I'm going now!" she said jumping out of her seat. She poked Ed on her way out just to annoy him. He swatted at her lazily.

With Mei gone, the apartment was quiet for a moment, then almost immediately, it filled with Ed's snoring. Winry rolled her eyes, but smiled at the nostalgia; it was like those days when he had come back from his long romps looking for the stone. He would come and crash on their couch or in the room Granny had kept for them. Winry moved to her workbench and continued working on a new schematic she had been developing. She wanted a leg that would be able to hold up to the punishment Ed put it through. He told her once that he'd jumped from a three storey building and landed heavily on his automail leg. It had whined and popped a few screws, but it did pretty well. Winry wanted to see if she could improve it.

Ed rolled over and cracked an eyelid.

"Whatyadoing?" Ed mumbled.

"I'm trying to modify your leg," Winry replied. Ed dragged himself off the couch and stood behind her. He wrapped his arms lightly around her, resting his forehead on the top her head.

"You're too good to me, Win," he said tenderly.

"Nah, you're worth it," Winry said with a light blush. Ed found a stool and pulled it up next to her, "What are you doing? Aren't you sleepy?"

"I'd rather sit and hang out with you," He said with a grin. Winry smiled and set down her tools. Ed and Winry spent the next few hours just talking about life, dreams, hopes and everything else under the sun.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for the toast, Winry. I'm going now!" Mei said. She was eager to see Alphonse sama and show Chika that Alphonse was indeed stronger than him. He hadn't believed her when she had said she knew a tonne of people who could easily thrash him in a fight, but now she could prove it. Alphonse had been working hard over the past week and was well on the way back to his former condition. Even though he wasn't in peak shape now, he would still mop the floor with Chika easily.<p>

She knocked on the door and smiled when Al answered, "Alphonse sama!" she squealed and tackled him.

"Oof," Al landed with a thud, Mei hugging his torso.

"Hi, Mei. Was brother disturbing you…"

"MEI?!" Chika and Satoshi yelled at the same time.

"Hi Chika and Satoshi," she said with a smile.

They stared at her, flabbergasted, for a full minute as Al got up and dusted himself off.

"Have you eaten yet, Mei?"

"Yeah, Winry gave me some toast…"

"How do you two know each other?" Satoshi blurted out. He was the first to recover from the shock.

"We met in Germany. Ling's my half brother,"

"What?!" Satoshi and Chika yelled again, looking to Ling. They saw very little resemblance.

"What's wrong with you two?" Mei asked.

"Wait…is Al the 'Alphonse sama' you were talking about?" Chika asked.

"Of course! He's just like a prince isn't he? He's such a gentleman and he's the kindest and strongest…"

"Mei…" Al said in embarrassment. He liked the younger girl, but he always got embarrassed when she ranted about him.

Chika looked torn between fainting and screaming. Satoshi looked like he was watching a horrible joke and wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

Al, Ling and Mei looked to one another, not understanding what was going on.

"Someone want to explain?" Ling asked.

"I joined the karate club by beating Chika, but I don't know why they're freaking out like this," Mei said.

"Wait, Al's not strong!" Chika said.

Satoshi thwacked Chika on the head, "That's rude, but no offence Al, you don't look all that strong,"

"Yeah, I'm not. Mei's just exaggera-

"Alphonse sama is the strongest guy in the world!" Mei said, puffing up her chest like a proud bird.

"Al's skin and bones!" Chika argued.

"He's tougher than you are! He could beat you in a fight easily!"

"Yeah right!" Chika snorted.

"Alphonse sama, show him!" Mei pouted.

"Mei…I don't really want to,"

"See, Al's a chicken,"

"Hey, Chika, be nice!" Satoshi said, bashing him on the head with a fist, "Sorry, Al. Chika gets riled up really easily and tends to shoot his mouth off…"

"Don't worry, Satoshi, I've noticed. We're in the same class," Al smiled good naturedly.

"See, Alphonse sama's also more mature than you are," Mei grinned proudly.

"I challenge you to a duel!" Chika said pointing a finger menacingly at Al.

"What? I don't want to…"

"Oh, Al, just go do it. Shut the kid up already," Ling said; he could feel a headache coming on.

"Don't worry Al, Chika's a professional and I'll make sure he doesn't rough you up," Satoshi added.

"Isn't there any other way?" Al asked.

"It's just a friendly spar, Al, like you have with Ed," Ling said with a grin.

"Urgh. Fine. One match," Al consented.

* * *

><p>Soon they had made their way out to the car park. Al drew a rough circle with the chalk he always kept handy.<p>

"I'll referee," Satoshi said.

"Should we get Ed and Winry?" Ling asked.

"Nah, let brother sleep," Al said.

"Okay, ready?" Al took a stance on the edge of one circle and Chika took his on the opposite end.

"Start!" Chika launched at Al with ferocious speed. He aimed a high, but soft kick to Al's head. Al caught Chika's foot and spun him easily. Chika was surprised and fell to the ground, catching himself in a handstand, but Al swiped at his arms so Chika had to vault over. Al ducked under Chika's attempt to hit him with both of his feet and rolled under him. Chika made his landing, but Al didn't give him time to catch a breath. He lashed out with a round house kick to Chika's temple, which Chika barely dodged. Al then feinted with a left jab, but Chika fell for it. He dodged right into Al's second fist and took the impact to his solar plexus. He collapsed outside the ring, struggling to take a breath.

Al offered him a hand, "Sorry, Chika, did that hurt? I didn't think you'd fall for the feint so I was just planning on grazing you," Al apologised.

Chika swatted his hand away and got up. He glared at Al, his face red with anger and embarrassment, then bolted down the street.

"Chika!" Al cried in surprise.

"Stupid Chika," Satoshi muttered.

"Should I go chase after him?" Al asked in a panic.

"No, don't worry. He's fine. He's just a sore loser and you beat him three times today,"

"Three times?" Al asked in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'll go get him,"

"Wait, I'll go get his things. He might not want to talk to me anymore," Al said sadly. Ling was already ahead of him and came back down with Chika's backpack fully packed.

"Tell him I'm really sorry, okay?" Al asked.

Satoshi smiled and took the pack from Ling, "Don't worry about it, Al. He'll be fine. This was just a bit of a shock to him. He'll be okay. And he won't hold it against you. I know Chika and if anything, he'll respect you more because you've beaten him,"

"Thanks, Satoshi," Al said with a small smile.

"No problem," Satoshi said and dashed after his cousin.

* * *

><p>Al, Mei and Ling stood in the car park for a bit, then headed back inside. Al wasn't hungry so he just went into his room and skipped lunch. Mei and Ling were worried about him, but not too much. Luckily, though, Al was feeling better by dinner and they went over and gathered Winry and Ed for dinner. They also thought to ask Haruhi to come out, but she said that was really busy and she'd see them another time. Ling explained what had happened and, after Ed threatened to kill Chika, they helped Winry prepare dinner<p>

On the other side of town, however, Satoshi had found his cousin, finally, sitting on a swing in the middle of a playground. His knuckles were bloody from punching something, a tree or a brick wall at a guess. Satoshi sat on the swing next to him, out of breath and tired from looking practically all over the city. They sat in silence for a while, until Chika sighed heavily and looked up at the sky. It wasn't dark yet, it was more mid afternoon, but sun was beginning to set.

"Why is life so unfair?"

"What do you mean, Chika?"

"Al's got it all; he's the smartest kid in our grade, he's got tonnes of friends, he's kind, he's strong, Mei's in love with him, his brother doesn't go around eating his weight in cakes; heck his brother beat mine as well!" Chika moaned, kicking at the tanbark, sending up a puff of brown dust.

"Chika, you're just as good as Al," Satoshi offered, not really knowing what to say. It was the first time he had seen Chika this frustrated, "You know, you've probably had a better life than him," Satoshi said as he remembered snippets of something his brother had told him.

"What do you mean? Yeah, they're commoners, but at least he doesn't have the pressure of having to inherit his family's dojo, since his older brother is a joke,"

"You know, back in Germany, Al's brother was part of the military. He was a famous alchemist or something. I can see that Al's probably had a really tough life," Satoshi got up and shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning back in the swing and closing his eyes, "Al's not the same as us. You can tell from his eyes and the way he looks at things; he's always analysing things as if they could be a threat, like he's not used to letting his guard down. And also from his fighting; it's not the same as the Morinozukas and the Haninozukas. When he fights, he fights to win; he doesn't fight to perfect his technique or for the enjoyment of it. He fights like his life depends on it; nothing needlessly flashy," There was a pause as Satoshi opened his eyes and took a calming breath, "Or, you know, that's what I think,"

Chika looked at his friend, his cousin and gave a weak smile, "You sound like your brother,"

Satoshi grinned, "I wanna be just like him one day," Satoshi said and gave a stretch, "Come on, let's go home,"

Chika nodded, feeling better and the two made their way back.

* * *

><p>That Monday was a hard one for Al. He made it to school and found Chika, hoping to apologise for whatever he did, though he wasn't really sure he knew what to say. All he knew was that he had bruised Chika's pride when he had beaten him. Chika shook his head when Al began, "We'll talk at lunch, okay?" Al nodded.<p>

Lunch came and Al followed Chika to find Satoshi. It was his first time visiting the middle school cafeteria. They found Satoshi already sitting at a table and they joined him. There was a pause, then Chika began, "Hey, Al, listen I'm sorry…"

"No, no, it was my fault. I'm really sorry!" Satoshi and Chika looked at him

"Why are you like that?" Chika asked finally.

"Huh?"

"Why are you apologising, it was obviously my fault. Or so Satoshi's pointed out to me,"

"I guess it's a habit. I'm always the one having to smooth things over when brother's blown up at someone important," Al sighed.

"Hey, Al? Could you tell us about your life back in Germany?" Satoshi asked.

Al thought about it. He didn't mind, but it was also Ed's story and he knew his brother hated telling others more than they needed to know, "I don't know. Brother wouldn't like it and a lot of our story is kind of personal. You'd have to ask him if you want to know,"

"Let's go ask him now!" Satoshi said and jumped up from the table.

"Wait-

"You always go to the high school, right? We can just go and ask him! It'll be fine," Satoshi said, ignoring Al's protests. Chika had to admit, he was curious too and followed.

The two of them dragged Al to the highschool and Al, somewhat reluctantly, led them to their usual table.

"Chika chan!" Hunny squealed. They decided to postpone the customary family battle for the moment.

"Hey, guys!" Satoshi said loudly, "Al wanted to know if you could tell us your family history," he said to Ed.

Ed cocked an eyebrow, "Where did that come from?"

"Ohhh! I've wanted to hear this story too!" Tamaki and Hunny squealed together.

The twins shrugged, "We'll listen if it's interesting," they said in stereo. Mori and Kyoya shrugged, although Kyoya was curious, he just refused to let it show.

Ed looked to see half the eyes staring at him, already rapt with attention.

"Fine," Ed sighed, "But it's the abridged and PG rated version, okay?"

They all nodded enthusiastically.

Ed spent the next ten minutes quietly narrating their lives, deciding not to gloss over the homunculi and the Promised Day incident, saying that it was "really f*cked up".

After his story, the gathered group just looked at them.

"Ed, I had no idea," Tamaki began with tears in his eyes.

"Look, it's not a big deal. Anyway, the past's the past,"

Chika looked at Satoshi who was considerate enough not to shoot an I-told-you-so look at him, instead, choosing to slap Al on the back, "At least you're here with us now," Satoshi grinned.

Al smiled back, "I'm glad, actually. We're getting to travel, return to school and now we can lead a relatively normal life,"

The group continued pestering Ed and Al with questions, even asking some about Winry and Ling. Eventually, the bell rang and the group dispersed back to class, Tamaki still asking Ed questions.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 10<p>

I was considering ending this chapter after "bolted down the street" for it to be more of a cliffhanger. HOW SUSPENSEFUL. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AWESOME. but i, personally, dislike reading cliffhangers (they piss me off to no end) so i thought that it would be best if i didn't put my dear readers through that.

I found the cutest picture of Winry and Mei in the kitchen and it was the exact atmosphere i was describing earlier so i've put a link to that on my profile if you're curious

Yes i glossed over Ed and Al's life story. You all know it and you probably don't need me to summarise it for you. (if i'm honest, it's just because i'm lazy. Even i'm not entirely sure how much Ed would have told them)

Okay, here's the essay long expanation I promised y'all

So, I was wondering when and if someone would bring this up. I have an answer locked and loaded, by the way, in anticipation of this.

Thank you Honestly for your review as well, by the way, I appreciated it.

In summary, Guest has asked why the FMA crew haven't figured out that Haruhi was the 'friend' whose scholarship Winry 'stole'.

The reason for this is as follows;

The host club has always referred to Haruhi as a guy (this is out of habit because they have to refer to her as a guy at school so that the ladies that they entertain don't find out that she's actually a he). When they first met Ed et al. (it's a pun) they weren't immediately best friends, nor was the group a part of their club so it would make sense that they would still refer to Haruhi as a guy when they speak to outsiders. As they've become closer, the subject of Haruhi just doesn't come up very much, they have other things to talk about over bringing up that one time that they were being an ass to Winry, so they've never bothered explaining that Haruhi's actually a girl.

My next reason is Japanese names aren't exactly unique. I would say names like 'Haruhi' are pretty common (like the melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). Names are also unisex. There is no reason for the FMA crew to assume that the average girl next door was actually posed as a guy and attended the most expensive school in the country and became best friends with a host club. Also, knowing Haruhi's personality, she wouldn't be one to brag about having been admitted to Ouran; she strikes me as the kind of person who doesn't advertise these kinds of things.

That's pretty much the host club end of it.

On Haruhi and FMA's end, Haruhi knows that Winry was being bullied, but Winry is a strong person and I feel like Winry's not the kind of person who will come home after getting bullied and cry to Haruhi about it. Sure, she'll bemoan it, but always in a very general, very brief way. For example it'd be something like

"How was your day?"  
>"Terrible; I got a bucket of water thrown on me,"<p>

"That sounds horrible," Haruhi winced, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm absolutely fine! Actually, I just heard about this great recipe for…"

Etc. It would be something she talks about briefly, then they move on. And Haruhi doesn't seem like the kind to pry.

On the uniform thing that no one's yet brought up, but may in the future so I'll address it now; Ed and the others leave for school earlier than Haruhi (a full hour earlier) but also return home earlier (about an hour). When they get home they instantly discard their uniforms; they hate them (Winry and puffy yellow dresses, Ed and Ling in suits? Yeah, off they go!) so Haruhi has never actually seen them in uniform.

Chika and Satoshi I don't think realise that Haruhi is a girl and they also don't know Winry very well (they're more Al's friend than anything else. Also in this chapter, Chika visits the apartment complex, but he doesn't know Haruhi lives there because he's never visited Haruhi before; why would he have?).

Overall, the FMA crew don't really talk much about school. Sure, they talk about general, "Damn, this is a lot of stuff to study" etc, but nothing like "ermagod, my bestie Tamaki was such an ass today, let me tell you all about it" kind of thing. They have other, more interesting things to talk about than constantly griping about school.

This was the world's longest Author's note, but I feel like it's something that needed to be said because I don't want to cause confusion.

I've tried to keep it as realistic as possible and I hope it makes sense. If some of it seems a little farfetched, chalk it up to a happy coincidence.

If anyone's got any other questions that I haven't addressed, please feel free to ask them, i'm more than happy to answer (as long as answering them won't constitute a spoiler)

NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE AMAZEBALLZ. SERIOUSLY, I CANNOT OVER-SELL IT. PUCK AND KYO, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, NEXT CHAPTER IS FOR YOU.

this was a long chapter. So much to get through, so much foreshadowing and ground work. You'll see.

Please leave a review if you'd like to see anything in the forthcoming chapters, just as a warning, I'm writing the ending for this story currently so if you have any suggestions, I urge you to voice them now.  
>Otherwise general feedback is also welcome :D<p>

Look forward to the next chapter.

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


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